I must admit that I had not realised that these things existed until I saw it on Ebay. I love home made veggie soup and to see a machine that does all the hard work without you having to be there was tempting, but then I watched the video and saw that it cleaned itself - well, that just sold it for me. Just chop up your veggies, put in stock, press the button and in 15 mins it was done! (up to 30 mins if you do a maximum soup size). If some veggies are still a bit 'lumpy', then hit the blender button and it super-smooths it. It also has a reheat function and can be used as a standard blender and smoothie maker (although it doesn't accept dry ingredients). It has lots of safety cut outs like not enough water, too hot, or about to boil over, and suckers on the feet to prevent movement. When finished, just rinse it out, put in water and washing up liquid and switch it on. Then rinse out and dry. Easy. I am seriously happy with it, and at £55 with free delivery, I reckon that's a bargain (cheapest alternative I could find was £130). If you love soup - get one!