I have always popped corn with a cast iron skillet which is kind of hard on electric burners or gas grates and impossible on the new glass topped stoves. Since only one person here I bought the 4 ounce model. 4 ounces of Orville Redenbacher is a lot of pop corn. It pops corn within 4 minutes as advertised. Great. During the first trial I noticed that once the pop corn started that many, many un popped seeds jumped out along with the pop corn as it popped. Thank goodness for the old maid drawer in the bottom because these un popped kernels are not old maids.Put back into the mix they will pop. The lid covering the popper is not heavy enough to prevent this. The solution is go get some large magnets from Wal Mart (cheap) to weight the lid. Problem solved. You might also consider the larger model without loading it up. The extra space may prevent a lot of un popped corn from hopping out. Over all this is a great machine. I also purchased a mettle scoop with the old maid holes in it. Don't chase the un popped corn around, but save them up. It comes with some plastic measure tools which are not really functional for frequent use. The 3 plastic pop corn cups are too tapered at the bottom and will fall over so I will not use them. I also comes with an initial supply of paper bags which are good. For me I just eat pop corn out of a large bowl big enough for my hand. The bags would be fine for those on the run. I once owned a movie theater popper which also generate a lot of un popped seeds, which everyone knows about.Kinda small bowl hard to pour the oil, not enough space. The light doesn’t get very hot. But I do however like the color. It matches my decor in my pool room. It sits on my water cooler nicely. The reusable popcorn corn cups smeared when popcorn oil gets on them but are okay to wash with soap. I don’t understand that but all in all nice product. Kinda pricy.A 5 star machine all around- but careless around workmanship, or implementing safety into their business plan. I'm not sure which. What I do know, is that the kettle, being very near the top of the unit, has limited space for filling with kernels. the center spindle is top-mounted to the unit from the ceiling and also impairs the addition of kernels to kettle.So the least that the manufacturer could do, is smooth the edges of the sheet metal housing that is used to construct most of the product. It's sharp, and the prefab design fits together with small overhangs. The top edge all along the ceiling inside is raw edges, both of the silver ceiling AND the black decorative outer trim. The sides are raw on the inside (where hands must scoop out the corn), the bottom edge is raw, and the entire tray opening is raw on all four sides (if you don't push it in straight, be very careful trying to pull it back out, those edges are disaster to human skin.I learned the hard way... And took a deep wound to my knuckle when filling the kettle with kernels.Be careful... Much as I send the warning, the reason I kept the unit is because it is AWESOME.I have to add/ as a side note: the little popcorn cups they include (for serving popcorn) made of plastic-- reusable, right?Not if you use coconut based oils in your popcorn (I think most major popcorn serving agencies do- as the pre-measures packets usually always contain coconut oil)Because: the painted graphic on the popcorn cup literally melts (as if you've put paint thinner on it) when it comes into contact with coconut oil.I've never seen anything like this. The greasy fingerpaint, suddenly sliding around under everyone's fingers, returns to its smooth, and "unmovable" state as soon as water rinses away the coconut. However, water won't clean the smeared paint : I put my cups through the dishwasher 3 times , trying to remove the paint that had smeared everywhere, and it wouldn't budge.So I actually thought it was safe to use the cups again, and One by one, coconut greasy fingers came into contact with the graphics and we had messes everywhere- clothes, couch, tv remote, etc....I tried to wash it off, but even the fingers remained stained.The melting-paint, was once again frozen by lack of coconut contact.I'm baffled..... They used a finish that is disrupted by Coconut oil?PSGreat Northern Popcorn Company, please tell me what the thought process was when you were building the units with raw edges of sheet metal left un-smoothed? Little curls of metal hairs still present along the edge, from when the form was cut?I purchased the machine as a Christmas gift for my husband. The machine is not too big, and sits perfectly on our counter, doesn’t take up too much space. Works perfectly, really can’t beat the quality for the money!This popcorn machine rocks! It is just the right size for a family of 4. it makes several servings of popcorn in just a few minutes. Super easy to use (directions are on the door) and the popcorn tasted great. I’ve used both popcorn packs with seasoning kernels and oil all in one and I’ve also used just oil and kernels. Both turned out great. I bought seasonings for the kids to use to add flavor and fun. I like that the kettle releases and extends some to allow all the popcorn to be removed from it. The machine is super cute and the light adds ambience. I set it on a pub table in the corner of our rec room and it looks great.The packaging was more than adequate. The fit and finish were excellent. Assembly was quick and easy, even with the wrong instructions included. Also came with a few accessories, which was nice. This also comes with a heating lamp, not just a light. Very happy and impressed with this purchase.I am in love with this popcorn machine. It works so well. I purchased a different one last year and it was the worst. This popcorn machine makes delicious popcorn and sits on the counter in our kitchenKinda cheaply made. Hard to clean. Also hard to add the pack of popcorn, oil and salt. Bad angle. Looks nice.The structure is quite substantial and was a reasonable price. I didn't know popcorn with no added salt or butter could taste so good.Makes amazing popcornPopcorn taste amazing and product arrived faster than expectedA little temperamental as you try to make the popcorn and a pain to clean