this is an awesome deep fryer and totally worth the money.  yes it doesn't come with its own oil filtration system, but this is totally worth it for the price.  for us,[...]it's a good size deep fryer for 2-3 people (and uses a decent amount of oil).  Cleaning is a breeze especially if you follow the instruction.   It also heats up pretty quickly, compared to conventional deep frying using a pot.  when following the cooking instruction on the provided booklet, our home-cut fries turn out awesome!  crispy on the outside and still moist on the inside.   we also used it to deep fry tofu and it turns out to be exactly the same as what we usually order at the restaurant. if you're a first timer, this is a great item to have :)