Bought this product at our local PX. Got it home only to find the gel pack was leaking. Brought it back to the store the next day and exchanged it. The new machine at first glance seemed to be great. I put the gel disc in the freezer immediately. The next day I start to make ice cream mixture and get excited. After chilling the mixture I turn the machine on so I can start pouring in the ice cream mixture. Before I could even pour the mixture in it stopped turning all of a sudden. We take the motor back to the store and swap out just the motor. Get home turn it on and pour in mixture. Everything is finally working but..... Low and behold the motor breaks after about 10 mins. This thing was so cheaply made that the plastic gears they used actually break in half and no longer turn the paddle. I recommend finding a better product and read the reviews before buying. We ordered the ice cream attachment to our kitchenaid mixer which will be here in a couple of days. Good Luck to everyone!

Piece of Chinese Junk. We bought at discount from Rite-aid store, closing many months ago. Won't even try service.

The very first time I turned my Rival GC9151 GEL DISK Ice Cream Maker on, the tiny motor started grinding, throwing sparks out the back, and I could smell burning plastic. It never turned once. But such a cheaply made product is at least covered by warranty right? Yeah, but you have to pay shipping there and back, which together comes to more than the cost of the product. That's a pretty sneaky way for a company to avoid ever having to provide any warranty support for a bad product.

If you want an ice cream maker, spend a little extra money and get one that will actually work for you. This one is just a waste.

I really hadn't planned to buy an ice cream maker. In fact, I had been so disillusioned by one that I had years ago that it had quite put me off the idea all together as it had been so much hassle that it was never used and, in fact, it even managed to get itself broken without ever having BEEN used. Quite a record in our household!

Why then did I choose the Rival. Well, to be honest, I saw it demonstrated on television and it looked so easy that I couldn't resist it. The main attraction was the fact that you didn't have to find room in the freezer for the whole of the base - or bucket - but only the "Gel Disk" which will fit easily into any freezer or freezer compartment.

RIVAL - a make I was not familiar with - made by Holmes Products (Europe) Limited. www.theholmesgroup.com/europe.

The actual ice cream maker is very attractive. The base - or bucket - is pale blue and white plastic while the upper part is clear. The motor, which is housed in the top section is white as is the mixing paddle. The "gel disk" which is the freezing element fits into the base. In fact, gel disk is a somewhat misleading name as it appears to be metal but no doubt the 'gel' is inside. Assembly of the unit is extremely simple.

The recommendation is that the gel disk should be placed upside down into the freezer for at least 24 hours prior to use. It is a good idea to find a permanent place if possible so that it is always ready when required.

How it works: The Gel Disk is inserted into the bucket straight from the freezer. The ice cream mixture is added and on contact with the disk starts to form crystals. The mixing paddle scrapes them away from the disk allowing others to form thus building the thickness of the mixture. It makes approximately 1.2 litres of ice cream.

My initial attempt was "Raspberry Soft Scoop" which is one of the recipes provided in the Owner's Guide. This was a rather rich mixture of frozen raspberries (luckily from the garden), full cream milk, whipping cream and caster sugar. The result was delicious - better than I had hoped and I couldn't wait to experiment again. The second attempt was a slightly healthier version "Strawberry Cr me Fraiche Soft Scoop" which was also from the suggested recipes. I have to admit that both experiments were consumed as soon as they were finished!

On Christmas Day I became more adventurous and produced a true experiment by making Blackberry ice cream with some frozen blackberries of which I have a large store in the freezer. This time I transferred the finished ice cream to a container and put it in the freezer until it was required. The results were still good - the texture of the ice cream was also good and had no ice crystals which you do sometimes find in home made varieties. There were certainly no complaints - or even criticisms - anyway.

Cleaning: This ice cream maker, unlike my first one, is very easy to clean. Once the motor has been removed it is all dishwasher safe apart from the gel disk. However, the whole thing washes so easily in warm soapy water that it's done in no time and ready to use again.

Would I recommend this item? Most certainly and I hope this has been of interest. Thank you for reading.