I’ve actually owned a vacuum sealer prior but with a small kitchen we could not give up the space for the product. This new space saving vacuum sealer is half the size of our original one and is easily stored away when not using. I recently used the vacuum sealer to repackage some bulk chicken and before that I purchased to put away on our freezer and this thing works like a gem. The vacuum sealer maybe smaller but works just as good. This is easy to use and well made and I can foresee being used weekly during our meal prepping.