Right off the top, I love yet loath gadgets. I only bought this because of the incredible deal on it, so 'why not', right? If you don't want to read a bunch of extra stuff then simply.... this actually does make me eat breakfast, it's just too easy not too. Now for the long part of it. Space wise it's smaller than a toaster over, but just about the size of a small pop up toaster. You do need some clearance on the sides (if you have a small work area, this matters to you) to slide out the egg cooker/separator things. Overall, the footprint isn't that bad, especially if you have a space to store it away. Basic usage and tips. Read through the reviews and you'll get the gist of it, that's what I did. But in summary, I use an oil sprayer that I fill with whatever oils I choose to use, and I mist the egg part (not doing this results in sticking and left over egg 'skin'). The machine takes no time to pre-heat, so if you need to microwave a frozen sausage patty, start that first. The lights seem counterintuitive considering the 'pre-heat' light comes on when it's heated, but there you are. From here you decide what goes in, add ons, bread choice, what have you. Before inflation doubled the price, the best thing I found was the whole wheat burger buns as the bread choice. At the time they were .88 and fit the rings perfectly (this is no longer the case). I'd started with canadian bacon (way to expensive for what it is) then switched to frozen pre-cooked sausage patties. A minute in the microwave was good enough (45 seconds was better but took finding an extra button to press) and the machine was already set to go. Place bottom bun, sausage, close that part, then add egg to top part. How do you like your egg? Use part of the shell to break the yoke and swirl it around a bit, or if you want to mess up another dish, scramble before hand. Do not add top bun, just don't! Let cook for about two minutes or so (check how done the egg is) and now season if you didn't before, unplug machine, add top bun and close. This way you can walk off and finish getting ready, whatever, the come back and slide out egg ring thing, take out sandwich, and NOW is when you can add cheese. Don't add cheese before hand unless you are using something other than sliced version. I top mine with salsa and this is how I get great results every time. I mean, this isn't fast food results, and is always messy, but good enough for me. Someone asked and at the time it was about .77 a sandwich. It's a bit more now thanks to inflation but still cheaper than getting take away. That is unless you are grabbing a $1 deal somewhere, then by all means, that's honestly a better option probably. Things that angered me in the beginning: (I say 'angered' cause people pay $40 for this) The egg tray is temperamental. Large egg? = mess. Maybe it will spill over, maybe not. This is the reason to not only make sure the plate is well heated but that you don't even try to put a top bun/bread on it for a couple of minutes. Short power cord. Seriously, it's annoying. One of the main reasons I could only suggest this thing to someone is because they have kids and would like them to be able to make something without using the stove. However, this also means they prob won't take the time to do it properly and just throw an egg in and put the bread on top, worse yet, even the cheese and just walk away. Both of those things will be burnt to the sides of the machine and maybe spill onto your counter. There you have it. I wanted to dislike this thing as using it I said "I can do all of this with just one pan", but it serves a purpose. It's a no fuss devise that does what's indented but with caveats. It encourages me to eat breakfast (that I don't normally do) and others can use it with a bit of learning curve. I'd fully expect to see an overflow mess on the counter when I got home if you have others who don't take basic precautions. But then again, they probably didn't burn down the house with it.
