**UPDATE**
I've had this for over a year and a half now with lots of use and it's still working perfectly. And also I'm no longer afraid of it :)
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Last month my husband threw me on the Instant Pot bandwagon by purchasing this one and I don't plan on getting off anytime soon. I have three young boys who demand all my attention all day. It's been so hard getting dinner on the table and the idea of cooking is just daunting. I hate cooking. I hate figuring out what to cook. I hate not having food readily available. ENTER: the Instant Pot. It hasn't solved all of my life's problems, but it has made the dinner situation a lot better. At least having a meat cooked (in a fraction of the time, without having to tend it) has made life a little easier.

At first I was pretty scared of the thing. I was eager to use it, but heard the horror story about the mom who burned her daughter when she opened it. This resulted in a lot of people being scared of the machine, myself included. After researching her story (as to not make the same mistake), I learned that she had disregarded the instructions and tried to force the Instant Pot open. THAT IS A HUGE "NO NO." If you have never read the instructions on anything, READ THESE! Do the step by step stuff it walks you through. Seriously, the first time the steam hole made a whistling noise I jumped (maybe I screamed, maybe I didn't), and I was ready to throw in the towel. I wasn't in the mood to blow my house up that day. BUT, I followed the directions and put my faith in the technical writers of Instant Pot. And they guided me through with skill and ease. I made chicken that night. And it was good.

BONUS:
If you really want to impress yourself, or your spouse, or significant other, or friends, or whatever, make some boiled eggs in your Instant Pot! If you do nothing else in your life, make eggs. Throw in some eggs, a cup of water, set the time for five minutes, then let it sit for another five minutes. Then dunk them in ice water. And that's it. You have perfect eggs which are EASY to peel. That's right, every time. The shells come off like magic. Egg magic. The most delicious easy-to-peel eggs of my life. They may tell you to buy extra gadgets for the eggs in order to boil them, but I have no problems cooking a dozen eggs at a time all on the provided rack. They touch each other, but I'm sure it makes them happy to be so close? I dunno. But they have never cracked on me. They just come out perfect each time.

ADDED BONUS:
ok, I've had this puppy for a while now and my favorite thing to make with it now is BONE BROTH! DELICIOUS PURE WONDERFUL BONE BROTH! Back when I was pregnant with #2 I made bone broth in a slow cooker, one of those all day simmering events. Problem was I wanted to throw up ALL DAY. It ruined my life. I was destitute. I exaggerate. But then I realized that it's been a while and I may as well try again. Oh, what's that, instapot? You can do it in a fraction of the time? Less than two hours???! HALLELUJAH. I'm back in business and feeling so thrifty with my homemade bone broth. And ya, I think it tastes WAY better than the store bought stuff.

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love this product works better than expected. worked for 3 months then would not seal or build pressure. Very unhappy with this purchase the instant pot people sent a replacement valve stem. What am is supposed to do with that? Not happy with the 1 year warranty. It basically does not exist. I had to send many e-mails and made numerous phone calls to get them to do anything. So they finally did nothing. very unhappy with the warranty on this purchase.

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For those of you thinking of getting the Instant Pot pressure cooker, it's a winner! I didn't even blow mine up today as accident prone as I have been. Browned a pot roast in sauteed onions and garlic right in the pot using the "saute" setting, added 2 cups of water and some bay leaves, closed the lid and set it for 55 minutes with a delayed start of 2.5 hours. While we were at church, it cooked the pot roast and kept it warm. Got home, turned it off, removed the lid and added fresh carrots, celery and potato chunks, a little cornstarch in water, put the lid on, used the "steam" feature and in 5-6 minutes we were ready to eat! The meat was moist and delicious and the vegetables finished and tasting like I cooked for hours. I am loving it.

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This is no better than a crock pot. Yes it does a lot more in one pot but not worth the weight and size. It can not be used on your counter if there are cabinets above or the steam will ruin the finish. VERY loud whistle on pressure cook setting. Plus a big one IT WAS MISSING THE BOTTOM OF THE POT. The wires and computer board were exposed. I did not notice until I went to put it back in the box. FYI Instant pot did not seem the least bit concerned.

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I actually really love the appliance. We had been using it for several months and loved the performance, speed, interface and cooked results.

Recently it failed. We were preparing steel cut oatmeal and "stuff" started spewing out of the steam release valve and the edges of the pot after about 2 minutes of a 4 minute cycle. Several other attempts to continue using the pot failed. This is the point at which I had to endure Instapot Customer Service. My Amazon provided return period had expired (30 days). They, Amazon, connected me by phone to the Instapot Call Center somewhere in the world. Forty-five minutes later I hung up because the CSR interrogated me and offered no resolution other than preparing a ticket and having another CSR contact me via email. When I was contacted a couple days later by email, it was such a lengthy list of redundant questions and information gathering again I just replied that they needed to replace or return and not put me on trial in my usage of the appliance. They declined and continued to press for testing and answers and data...on and on and on.... Pot is nice but their return logic is skewed.

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Buy it.
I'm serious.
I'm so cheap it's not even funny.
My crockpot broke, so I decided to try this as it was the same price as a large crockpot.
I regret NOTHING.
I can make rice in minutes
Eggs have never been easier to peel
Bone broth doesn't take DAYS
IT EVEN MAKES CHEESECAKE.

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That tiny inside filter thing over the float valve does NOT come off without a lot of force. I've like, hurt my finger and thumb trying to get it off - it's actually currently bleeding. I'm irrationally sorta angry about this, because I spent too much money on this appliance for a jankety float valve cover that I can't even get of without risk of injury. I don't even know if it's a big deal that it needs to come off every single time you clean it, but since their MANUAL SAID TO DO SO, you'd think they'd make it a BIT easier to get off.

The actual function the pot is just as described. Whatever, it works great and the food is great. But again, my thumb is bruised and my finger is bleeding (and I'm way irritated right now), so I'll just caution the future buyer: you'll have great food but you're gonna have knuckles like you have been in street fights.

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I bought this product as a birthday gift to myself. FINALLY buying an instant pot. I was super excited when it arrived earlier today. But this was the condition of my “brand new” straight out of the box instant pot. It’s dirty, has oil and old food on it and has clearly been used. I’m disgusted and extremely disappointed.

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I love my Instant Pot. I've made everything from ribs to cheesecake in it. I recommend purchasing an additional silicon seal as some foods (beans, highly spiced foods, etc.) leave a faint smell in the ring. My solution is to have 2 rings and use one seal for savoury foods only.

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Wife couldn't get at this fast enough to cook her first meal! She followed the directions for pre-use and washed and rinsed it out.
Then a Roast Beef Dinner, complete with potatoes and carrots. It was delicious and ready in less than one hour!
The next day it was a Pork Roast, turned into pulled pork on submarine rolls! Once again...... Super delicious!
She is extremely happy and will spend the next month experimenting with different recipes.
Me...... I'll sit back and gladly sample all the goodies as they're cooked!
Great deal and great product!!

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This was my first pressure/multi cooker and I have to be honest it is fantastic or at least the concept of pressure cooking is. I have made a few of my slow cooker favorites and they have turned out great, but only took 1/8 of the time. There are also a ton recipes online. Once you understand the concept of how to use it, (read the instructions) It really does make meals simple. Best part is once everything is in the pot you turn it on and come back when it is done. If you have a slow cooker and have never tried using a pressure cooker I highly recommend it. Make perfect quinoa with 1 min cooking time. Rice comes out great, home made mac and cheese 4 min cooking time. I haven't tried everything yet but I am sure they will all turn out just fine. Got mine of sale for a great price, part of why I bought it, but now after having used it I would buy one at retail just to have it.

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I've only used it once. I made ribs in black bean garlic sauce. :-) OMG!!! So easy. And the meat literally fell off the bone. Love it. I'm still afraid of it though. :-(. I need to use it once more with someone else with me so I don't screw it up. I no longer follow written instructions very well.

Cannot wait to make my baked beans in it. One hour instead of 7..after soaking. :-).

Know anyone who wants a slow cooker and a rice maker??? *grin*