I've had the common over the stove tea kettle so long that it was ready to retire it. This was the perfect replacement. I love how I can wrap up the cord on the bottom for easy store when I need to get it out of the way. It has a small cord, which is probably the only negative to this product. Once you fill it to the line of water you would like it at, you simply plug it in and switch on the power. The blue light will appear and it will make the boiling sound as the water starts to boil. There is steam and a small whistle once it is ready for use. There is a filter at spout so if you were to use tea or another insert in the water it could filter that out of the water as well when pouring. This has completely replaced my over the stove top kettle for good.