Its obviously better than opening by hand, and I love the included cutter on top. My only complaint is that it tends to enter the side of the cork instead of the center, no matter how hard I try, and so it usually destroys one side of the cork when you remove it. Also I hadnt considered that it would puncture all the way through the cork — something I was always careful to avoid when opening by hand — and I occasionally find a bit of cork floating in my wine. Its rare but still less than optimal. Other than these minor complaints, it is easy to use, effective, and is a sure upgrade from a hand corkscrew. I imagine these problems are common for electric openers so for the price, I can still recommend it as definitely better than not having one!