I live in a rental, and always dread move out day when I would need to rent a carpet cleaner and desperately try to get all the little stains out of my carpets by hand. This is very compact, and although it did include instructions, I was able to set up and get started in less than 10 minutes with no issues. It pulled up a ton of yuck from my carpet and left a good "clean" smell after they dried. This will save me my deposit! And I loved the extra hose/nozzle tool, which made some of the more awkward spaces even easier to clean without having to move my furniture.