I recently purchased and assembled this piece to be our family room entertainment center. The packaging was excellent, a solid, thick box covered in plastic to minimize water damage. The assembly instructions were among the best I have ever seen, and I have assembled a lot of ready to assemble furniture over the years. We were very happy with the completed product. The only reason I didn't rate this 5 stars was because even though the description says the 2 outer cabinets are 18" wide, the opening is more like 16" due to the hinge panel to one side. This means if you have a standard width electronic component, like a home theater amp it has to be inserted from the rear, and then will have to sit way back in the cabinet. Other than that, this is a very nice looking unit.