Overall satisfied

I got this for Xmas '04 because I wanted to be able to make veggie juice at home. It works quite well, I haven't really had any problems with it. Been making juice 1-2times a week for the last 5 months and it's held up well. Stainless steel would be better than plastic to prevent staining of the interior but that's not really a big deal.

They say this juicer gets like 20-30% more juice than other juicers, and I don't have much to compare it to, as I've only used commercial juicers in smoothie bars, but it seems to be true. The pulp that comes out seems very dry and like there's no juice in it. I've never seen the pulp collector have so much as a drop of juice in it. So it must be pretty well designed.

Another good thing is the food chute is large enough to accommodate 3+ celery stalks, half an apple, half a beet, etc. In other words you only have the chop the apple in half before juicing, instead of into little pieces. And you don't need to cut carrots at all.

One other thing is the juice will tend to spatter on the counter (or on your shirt so wear an apron!), especially if you push the veggies through really quickly (ie. carrots). It doesn't spatter as much when you push them through slowly though. I hold the cup up at an angle to help catch some of the spattering too.. This isn't really a big deal for me, I just angle the juicer so it's facing sideways and the drops of juice end up on the counter instead of the floor or me.

The juicer is advertised as being "whisper quiet." I don't think ANY juicer is whisper quiet, but this juicer is definitely not as loud as many other juicers (especially commercial) and makes a sort of gentle wind-like sound that probably wouldn't wake anyone up in the house.

Cleaning is a little bit of a pain. (But really, when is cleaning a JOY?) TIP #1: DO NOT make juice and then let it sit over night or anything. Take it apart and at least rinse it off right away, otherwise you'll have to use way too much elbow grease for comfort. In the case you do let the pulp dry and stick to it, soak it for a couple hours before attempting to scrub.

TIP #2: To clean the filter part, first wet it with water, scrub it with a soapy sponge on the inside, then on the outside, then on the inside again and it's clean. Much faster this way than trying to scrub just one side. The mesh filter will often have a few traces of carrot or whatever left in it after rinsing, so it needs to be scrubbed.

Also here is my all-time favorite juice recipe:
APPLE & SPICE: Juice 1 small apple, about 3 stalks celery, 1 small piece of ginger (about half size of your thumb), one-half to one beet, about 1/2 to 1 pound carrots, and 2-3 leaves of beet greens or swiss chard (push through with celery otherwise they dont get juiced very well). This juice is sweet & yummy, a little spicy, not to mention nutritious.