Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

We are a homeschooling family and thus, we use pencil sharpeners pretty heavily around here. Over the years, I have tried out several different types from battery operated to ones with DC adaptors. All have failed with a few weeks or months. It was frustrating to try out different ones only to have to take them back to the different stores (discount store chains and office supply chains). It got to where I thought I would have to install a hand crank version on the wall. And then I stumbled upon this little beauty. It's sleek and modern design intrigued me. I like it when I can buy something with both form and function. But beyond that, this sharpener has kept up with the constant demands from #2 pencils to colored pencils for art/coloring. And that alone earns it five stars from me. Plus, the price is right compared to some of the other more "heavy duty" sharpeners. To ensure optimal performance, be sure to clean out the sharpener shavings compartment frequently. Thankfully, this is easy to do on this model. Simply open the "trap door" on the bottom and dump out shavings. You may need to use a wooden skewer to make sure you get all of the impacted shavings out that can get stuck at the top. If you do this, your sharpener will continue to work great. You can't go wrong with this Spira Sharpener. When ours finally gives out, I'm buying another! Update: Here we are over a year later from our purchase date and the sharpener is still going strong. It's sharpened more color pencils and regular pencils than I could have imagined and kept on going!