I thought long and hard before making this purchase. It's an investment to be sure, but I couldn't be happier with the purchase. This unit is so easy and satisfying to use, I find myself using it often--far more than my previous food processor.

The central post is tall so food doesn't seep out as it did with my previous unit. The food tube is not the biggest on the market (about 2"x3") but it has no annoying safety latches and catches that make it a challenge to use. You can take out the pusher or put it in on the fly as needed. I love the ease of it and haven't been inconvenienced by the size. There's another Magimix model that does have a giant insertion tube, but it comes with all the safety `features'. Others may want that, but I prefer this model.

The large bowl can be used multiple ways, including with any of three different blades (which all perform their intended function as advertised--or better). It handles a lot or a little with equal ease.

The smallest bowl has its own small blade and works as intended for very small portions, such as chopping herbs, an omelet for one, or wonderful fresh mayonnaise (their included recipe is super).

The middle-sized bowl doesn't have a blade, but is intended as the best choice for the slicing and grating disks, which, because of their close fit over the top of the bowl, keep unprocessed food from falling into the processed food. I tested the grating disk first with a rock hard block of Parmigiano, which it dispatched into beautiful fluffy flakes in seconds. On the other end of the spectrum, using a shredding disk, I shredded mozzarella with equal ease.

All bowls are very study material and clean up nicely. They all nest for storage as well as use, i.e. the middle one is used inside the large one. When the small one is used it is nested inside the medium one. This works well and one cover is used with all. I haven't had a problem with spillage into the larger bowls when a smaller one is being used.

My set came with a juice attachment which works extremely well, and a citrus juicer, which reacquainted me with fresh squeezed juice. What a pleasure--so much better than the 'fresh-squeezed' juice on a store shelf.

The whole set is well designed and all functions are intuitive so there is virtually no learning curve. The unit is heavy and provides a sturdy base when making things like bread dough that spin unevenly. It comes with a very useful scraper that cleans out any of the bowls or the leavings from the juicer. Very clever tool. The parts storage box will hold additional disks if you decide to get more.

I own a Vita-mix blender so I know that good design and real quality make a big difference. I finally bit the bullet and upgraded to this food processor. I only wish I'd done it sooner.