Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Before purchasing this model I was wondering how this differed from the KitchenAid KPEXTA that is at this time around $30+ cheaper. I could not find anything on what the differences are except what I could see in the photos. There was a distinct difference in the way the cutter was attached and in the shape and size of the screw on retaining ring for the "pasta plates" so I figured they made some design updates and the only reason I could see for such would be a percentage of failures or complaints from the previous design. This is by no means a compare and contrast review of the two. I was a bit disappointed in what comes in the box. The KPEXTA comes with a plastic storage case for the pasta plates that looks to attach to the top of the device for storage; the KSMPEXTA did not. The description for the KSMPEXTA clearly has the bullet point "The pasta press and all its parts are neatly organized inside its own storage case for easy access every time" unless they mean the bulky box it came in with molded foam insert, there is no storage case of any kind with this unit. While that is not a showstopper, it is quite a downgrade of expectations and unless you use the box it came in to store it you risk misplacing some or all of the pasta plates. I have used it several times since I bought it and it is quite a well built device and does it's job as expected. I use 100 grams of all purpose flour per egg (usual batch size is 2-4 eggs) and let that rest for half an hour after the initial kneading. Then I work it into a long dough snake about 2 inches in diameter and cut that into 2 inch lengths. Once done the KitchenAid and pasta press to the rest. I would like to see plates for other pasta types; fettuccine or reginette would be doable in this format but I intend to get a roller for lasagna some time in the future anyway so that would be doable there as well. However star, wheel shell and other uncommon shapes would be fun as an expansion pasta plates set.