mine has been very reliable. i've had it for 2- years and had one small problem (my fault) with a small spring wire that boinged out of place. i shouldn't have done something i did. i called the factory and they walked me through the problem right then and there. later when i discovered their website someone posted the same problem and it was immediately answered with pictures. it's basically a mechanical machine, so a repairman can fix it. i did not get the new computerized one and i'm not sorry.

i tell everyone to go to the blogsite of the machine you're interested in and read the posts. lurk for a while and see what kind of problems people are having. but remember that people with no problems at all don't post in.