I purchased this TSM model after mulling over the purchase of a dehydrator for a few months and reading many, many reviews. I liked the reviews elsewhere on TSM stainless steel models, but wanted to test the waters with dehydrating foods before taking that kind of plunge. I've been putting it through it's paces for the last week and despite a few quibbles, I'm pretty happy with this machine.

On the plus side, this thing packs a lot of drying space into its footprint: a little over 10 sq. ft. for something that's the size of a small microwave. I can dry up to three pineapples' worth of thinly cut slices overnight, and in the morning, rinse off the trays for some beef jerky that will be finished by that evening. Second, this model is relatively quiet. I have an open floor plan downstairs, and the ambient noise level for the kitchen/living area is about 48 dB. With the dehydrator running, it's about 56 dB from across the room and 66 dB standing right in front of it. The volume... Read more

I love this thing!
We got it to try and make beef jerky, the one thing we hadn's tried yet.
But it's so easy to operate, never imagined we'd get so much use out of this gadget - kids are eating the dried fruits up by the pounds, when before the apples just stayed in the vase for days and days. I've tried rising the dough and making croutons. Works wonderfully, cleans up in a second. Highly recommend.

I thought I'd save myself a few dollars and buy this over the comparable Excalibur version. Unfortunately, this thing is a piece of cheap garbage. I got this for my wife for Christmas and we were sorely disappointed. We couldn't even use it one time before it died on us. When my wife plugged it in for the very first time, I noticed a faint ozone smell. Thinking this was just the normal first-time use break in, I didn't think anything of it. However, after a couple of minutes, I looked at it more closely and noticed that the fan wasn't spinning and the heating element had melted all of the fan blades! Do not make the same mistake I did. We've since ordered the Excalibur and haven't had any problems. I'd recommend spending a little more money and going that route.