my parent have this aroma rice cooker , whereas I have a cheaper black and Decker at my own apartment . so I have experience with rice cooker and I must say that this aroma one be pretty good . for one thing , I like the lock lid , as oppose to a removable glass lid -lrb- like on my black and Decker -rrb- with a hole in it . this mean less clean-up . however , it also mean that the cooking vessel can not serve as its own pot that you could just put directly into the fridge with leftovers ; cheaper rice cooker with glass lid effectively increase you storage capacity , in a way . but it be a minor quibble . best of all , this aroma unit consistently make good rice without ever burn the bottom or produce a sticky starchy layer at the bottom . my black and Decker , as good as it be , ALWAYS produce a slightly toast starchy layer at the bottom . the unit be not super-fast , but not slow either . I can make two cup of dry brown rice in about 40 minute . this unit be not huge , though , and I do not think it can make more than three dry cup of brown rice . if you be cook for more than two people , you might want to get larger unit . lastly , the steam vent do occasionally produce some excess water which drip out of the unit onto the surround area . it be only do this once so far , but make sure to keep a eye out if you have papers or other electronics nearby .