Thanks for that thread. I think I've read enough, I'll just stick to Foodsaver, but I might upgrade to the 5200.
That's the one I have now. Once you get the hang of it, its not terrible. It replaced a Foodsaver so finicky I swore it was going to get the AK47 treatment one day. I decided to be the bigger man and save the ammo! Very rare a machine brings me to rage like that one did. My poor wife had to endure my sailor mouth!
You need to know, that bar where is says "push here"? You actually need to push down toward the counter. If you push where it actually says "push here" it will drive you nuts and scoot across the counter.
I like that it stores the roll and you pull off the roll out to the lower seal strip, flip that lever and it seals the first edge for you. Then you pull out what you need and the built in knife cuts it clean.
You'll have to learn where you can get your fingers out of the way but reach in the side (left hand for me) to hold the bag material as the roll gets to the center because the plastic has memory and wont lay flat getting to the end of a roll, but once you figure that out, you're good.
Any wrinkles when using the final upper seal strip will prevent a good seal. Especially with clumsy shaped food, you have to leave more bag than you want (or at least I want because I'm a cheapskate!) so it will lay flat across the seal strip.
If you buy bulk rolls to save money (like me) you have to transfer half of the roll to another spool. I'm a pack-ratter so I just happened to have a handful of them...surely they will come in handy some day! And they have! The bulk rolls wont go in the side of the machine unless you downsize them.
I haven't used any of the other features. I'm almost afraid to try the jar sealer. I have the jar fittings but the last one made me so mad trying to seal jars...well, you saw the AK47 comment! I have a hard time keeping my cool when stuff doesn't just do what its supposed to. They have to make these things idiot proof or some idiot will hurt themselves or let the kids stick their finger in it! I would like one that just shuts up and seals whether there is a finger in there or not!
