I bought this item for my Husband's Christmas gift. He used it to make his FIRST batch of Beef Jerky and it performed beautifully! It was delivered quickly, I wrapped it and it went right under the tree. (NOTE: strange that it arrived in it's "original" box...NOT in an Amazon box---so if you're trying to surprise someone, the picture is on the box!!...weird...also BAD if you have porch pirates!!) The inside packaging was great and the unit was surrounded in an "air bubble box"....to protect the plastic trays, lid and unit. There was no assembly required except to "snap" the knob onto the lid. My Husband used all 6 trays for his batch of Beef Jerky and the digital controls were easy to adjust and read. It stopped after 4 hours, thanks to the timer, he checked the progress as per instructions and he continued for 1.5 more hours. It dehydrated 2 1/2 pounds of beef and yielded a little over 1 pound of jerky...and it turned out GREAT!!! He used all 6 clear trays for the jerky batch---but we did not use the solid, fruit roll tray or the "diamond" flex tray. (we'll do that some other day) It was much quieter than I expected and sounded like a purr of a fan. This was a fantastic purchase at an affordable price....I also purchased "the Complete Dehydrator Cookbook for future recipes and projects!! *thumb up* KCJ Nashville, TN