I have been using this for about a month. I've tried to package up fresh crab meat, Pesto Sauce, and fresh made cheese thus far.
I found that the Unit will handle the jobs. A tip is that the CUTTER lifts up and the bag material slides under before it will cut. Elementary now that I know that. I tried it as One does Plastic wrap and lay it across the blade guide but would not cut till I lifted the cutter arm, placed the Roll material and THEN slid the blade. Duh!
With the cheese it sealed fine and was straight forward.
With the Pesto and Crab the Wet or Wetter option needed to be selected to seal. You'll see a button atop as described in instructions.
The bag opening is supposed to go UNDER the TWO plastic pieces inside the "Sealing Area" which BTW due to being held back a bit from the front and the handle One does use a couple more inches of bag or wastes a couple inches of bag roll. I do know some cut their bags longer to be able to open and then reseal later but the space from the vacuum tray area where the end of the bag NEEDS to be and the outside edge of the handle is about 4-5" from the Heat Element to SEAL it.
I have no idea IF that is Par for the course in the world of FOOD SEALERS? However, I would recommend this Unit for a food sealer since it comes with bags and rolls to get started which is where the money is made on these little gems. No biggie.
Oh and the HOSE if you check your package to see if is there. It is inside when you open it up it is routed to the inside edge to save space and be out of the way till you need it.
The Unit is solid, looks modern but the Vacuum tray does NOT remove to clean up easier. Might have something to do with the design and not wanting to leak. I did, and have had to press down on the top/ lid 'lightly' to get the vacuum to GO. As though the foam seal part in there needed a bit of compression.
I'll be using it soon when blanching veggies and sealing up for months later. It is pretty good and the price is attractive at the new discounted price compared to the Big A online place.