The reason I'm giving this sharpener five stars is because of one thing: it creates long, SHARP, pointy pencil tips. I do a lot of work in colored pencil and have been struggling to find a sharpener (manual or electric or battery- anything is fine) that creates long, sharp pencil points. I have tried several- the best results were with an old-school "crank" style sharpener but finding a place to mount it near my desk was tough, and results were always sort of a crapshoot- 9 out of ten times, I'd get a great, sharp pencil, but every so often it would just grind a pencil down, crack the lead, or destroy the pencil, so I sort of gave up.I have been using two different Kum sharpeners (the manual, "hold it in your hand" style) for a while, and while they give a longer point, the pencil points themselves are not perfectly sharp. I use my pencils to get into a lot of tiny areas, so I really want that super-sharp, needle-fine tip. And I was tired of using two hand-held sharpeners to get a decent tip after just a few strokes of the pencil.I finally decided to go ahead and get this sharpener after reading the positive reviews. It's a bit of a beast- it makes a lot of noise, and you really have to smash the pencil down in there and hold on for dear life because it rattles around quite a bit. But it does a great job of creating long, super-pointy tips on my color pencils (even the oil-based ones, which are fairly soft and tend to bother other sharpeners) and does an even better job on regular No. 2 pencils.I have to be honest- I don't love the way this pencil sharpener feels and sounds- because the pencil disappears inside and there's no sense of where the blades are (the minute the sharpener senses anything inside it, it starts), it really feels as if the pencil might be sucked from your hand and ground into a fine dust. I don't know why I get this more with this sharpener than others- I think other sharpeners get quieter or have a different "feel" when the pencil is sharp (that's what I remember the old Panasonic workhorse in my mom's office doing), and this sharpener doesn't have that. It's just a really disconcerting grinding feeling and sound. I wish they had made the sharpener body transparent, or horizontal, so it was easier to figure out where the blades were or how much has been sharpened off. There's supposedly an "auto-off" feature that is supposed to shut the sharpener down when the pencil is sharp, but that doesn't appear to be working on mine. I just stick the pencil in, hold my breath, and pull it out a few seconds later, positive my pencil will be ground up, but always happy to see a long, sharp tip.Also, the hole for the pencil is "one size fits all" and some of my colored pencils are a little tight, but they still fit.Despite the disconcerting noises and vibrating and grinding, this sharpener continues to produce super long and sharp pencil points. So I may not enjoy using it, but it works. Really well. We'll see how it holds up with repeated use, over time. But for now this is the only sharpener I have found- electric, manual, or otherwise, that produces the kind of long, super-sharp pencil points I really need for my work.We bought this pencil sharpener in December 2012 and it still works like we bought it yesterday. We have ten children and homeschooled all of them (for 37 years total) and use to go through pencil sharpeners every two years as they would burn out, break, eat pencils and so on. But this is the only one that has survived and with flying colors. It sharpens pencils smoothly and efficiently. This sharpener has sharpened thousands of pencils and it feels solid and sounds smooth running after almost ten years of use.Amazing.... just buy it!This is one of the best quality electric sharpeners out there for artists! Many of the reviews seems to revolve around preference of who's using it, space, and safety. This sharpener is ideal for those who wants crisp tips for their pencils that are efficient and won't break easily- most color artists are going to want this as you typically want fine tip points for accuracy and layering of colors. This means that you're pressing lightly while you color, which for me, the fine tip points help train me to do even more!PROS: - Quick & easy VERTICAL SHARPENING which lessens chance of breakage (in comparison to horizontal sharpeners) - STORAGE capacity for shavings is missive; shavings are broken down into bits to maximize storage capacity - AUTO-STOP feature to let you know when sharpening is done - SIZE of the unit is definitely on the bigger end (like a manual coffee grinder) but completely manageable for the features it comes with - SOUND of unit is not noticeably louder than any other electric sharpener I've come across - Solid, SHARP/CRISP TIPS made (used with #2's, Prismacolor, watercolor pencils, granite, drafting) for fine detailing - STABLE/STURDY BASE that you don't have to hold down with your other hand when you sharpenCONS: No complaints or issues for me personally. If any of the features above are things you're not personally looking for, that would be the difference. Only thing I can think of is NOT a MULTI-HOLE sharpener- not something I needed, so not a con for me.*Please let me know if this review was helpful by clicking "helpful" button below. Thanks!This blew up my fuse multiple times and started to smell like the burnt wire on second use, Amazon shouldn't show this product for sale in the UKI gave this three stars because you can't leave the stars empty. I don't know, how this works. It doesn't work in Finnish electrical grid and it burned a fuse. I had to return it and I had huge problems with incompetent officer and the seller started to hint that I try to get both the item and the refund (ie. accusing me to be a thief).El producto cumple con sus promesa de potencia, produce puntas super afiladas de forma muy rápida. Solamente comentar que el sensor de presión está más bien calibrado para lápices duros, hay que tener cuidado y presionar los colores o lápices blandos con muy poca fuerza, porque el sacapuntas puede consumir un tercio de un color nuevo en un segundo sin que se sienta ninguna resistencia.Es un excelente producto, pero me basé en un review que vi en youtube y lo recomendaban para lápices de pastel y lápices de color, solo que el review no especificaba que solo caben los lápices de ancho normal, para los Derwent Artist's y los Faber Castell Polychromos no me sirvió, Queda bien para lápices de grafito normales, Derwent Studio, Prismacolor y Carbothelo de Stabilo que son pasteles pero delgados, lo devolví, pero era un buen producto, solo que no me servía para las necesidades específicas que yo buscabaI have been a teacher for 5 years, and every year I end up buying at least 2 electric sharpeners. This one is by far the best. It sharpens perfectly every time. It's a little loud, but since it works I don't care. Will try and remember to update this after a few months of daily use.