I was excited to try this out. Upon opening it, I found it a little harder to maneuver the two sides of the griddle to lay them flat, then back into the "press" mode. I don't know if I will use it for making pancakes or anything, as the surface area doesn't seem like it adds much more space than my regular frying pan. I was super excited to try this for making a lunch sandwich though, and made a pretty tall sandwich as a "test" of the hinges. It was hard to get the top plate over the top of the sandwich, as it kept on sliding the sandwich toward the front and I had some trouble getting the hinge loose enough so it sat flatly on top of the sandwich. Once I figured it out though, it toasted up the bread really nicely! Overall, it did what I wanted it to, but I had some challenges with manipulating the machine. I don't think it'll be a mainstay on my counter, but will bring it out when I want to make a nice pressed sandwich.