If you're someone looking for an every day type of heavy duty juicer...I'd skip this review and product and move onto something more expensive. But, if you're like me...lazy and just want some fresh juice every now and then...I highly recommend this product! First of all, you get what you pay for. This is a cheaply made product that most likely will break if you're not careful. Now, I've used this twice in a week's period. I've washed the pladtic removeable items in the dishwasher and have been able to assemble everything back myself. The juicer is small and easy to handle. It's weight is probably that of a casserole dish, light but heavy enough you gotta use both hands. I find assembly easy. However, the cone part and the pulp catcher/grinder part just make sure to snap/twist them together. I thought you could just place them on top of each other and move about your business, but they actually twist together. You'll see what I mean if you purchase it. It still works either way, but sounds a bit off if you don't twist them tight. As for noise, it's no louder than an electric can opener, in my opinion. It's not super quiet, but quiet enough my cat can sit on the counter and stare at me while I'm juicing. It doesn't seem to bother the dogs either. I find it quieter than a blender. But, if you're using this product in an empty room or hallway, you're gonna hear it and it's gonna be loud. But in my normal sized home, it's no different than opening a few cans. I've only juiced oranges, so far, so any other items I can't comment on it's ability to do. I use regular sized oranges and cut them in half, where when you're juicing, the "stem" part is facing the ceiling. Not a lot of pressure has to be used to get it started, however, I find placing both hands (one of top of the other) and pressing down on the fruit works best for me just for more even juicing and stability. I had my 70 year old mother try pressing down to enhance my review status on whether this would work for elderly people. She doesn't have a whole lot of strength in her hands/arms and was able to juice a half of an orange. Now, do I think she would get as much juice out as I would? No. Most likely because I want to get every last pulp thread out and in that juicer. But, I do feel the weight and ease of this machine is workable for those who are elderly and/or don't have a lot of strength in their hands/arms. The best method I've used so far is to kind of move the orange around while it's on the machine. Just a tiny back and forth, side to side motion to get all sides of the fruit. As far as mess, its a cheap juicer so your gonna have some mess to clean up. It definently doesn't splatter everywhere and for the most part stays within the little rim pieces, but you'll get an occasional splash here or there. I also noticed by about the 3rd "half" of orange, the circular rim piece gets a bit full. Thats when I'll take the plastic cover and just place it over and push down to clean up the pulp inside and continue on with my juicing. However, I noticed that depending on the oranges and how much you're actually pulping will determine how full the rim piece gets. All I did was lift everything off, give it a good rinse out and pat it dry real quick so it's not soaking and put it all back on the machine. I let the pulp go down my garbage disposal while it was running because oranges do have acidity and can help clean the disposal of odor causing food leftovers. If you don't have a garbage disposal or don't feel comfortable rinsing pulp down your drains, then a paper towel to remove the pulp is probably more your best bet. It took me 4 whole oranges to juice an 18oz glass. One con I have is that you can only juice with a small cup under the spout/spicket part as it isn't tall so a 12oz glass is about the most you can put under it and will just have to empty it into a bigger glass when done. Also, for about 4 oranges, it's about 10-15 minutes to juice between setup, juicing and cleanup. It's a compact juicer so it's not a heavy duty juicer that I would recommend for an everyday juicer. While the item never got hot physically, I'd think if you're using it everyday, it probably won't last long. But, if you're someone just using it on weekends or for family holiday types of things, this is ideal. It's easy to store with not a lot of misc parts to it. I put it back in the box and in the closet.
