My Amazon account history shows that I am on my 4th auto cat feeder in the span of 6 years. I currently have two cats, Betsy and Tessy. I love them, but I cannot tolerate being woken at 4am, so learned that auto feeders are a must. Besty and Tessy hate each other, so each must have their own feeder. This review will compare the multiple auto feeders that I've purchased on Amazon. Betsy is currently using THIS PRODUCTPetSafe Healthy Pet Simply Feed 12-Meal Automatic Feeder (which I will refer to as "Big Silver Bowl") since October 2016 (9 months). BIG SILVER BOWL PROS: 1) It reliably shells out meow food (AS LONG AS YOU MAKE SURE CONVEYOR BELT IS ALWAYS FULL), 2) permits small portions (1/8 cup smallest), 3) can run by power with backup batteries (peace of mind and less long-term costs). 4) it quickly dispenses the food (quietly at that) but also has a slow dispense option (my cats don't like the noise of the dispensing so I appreciate being able to get it over in one fell swoop). BIG SILVER BOWL CONS: 1) It takes a masters degree to program the damn thing. Yes, it's possible to figure it out by paying close attention. Yes, it works great when the settings are how you want them. But every time I need to do it, it ends up becoming a half hour ordeal. Why not just make it intuitive? Why must there be steps that require me to hit multiple buttons at a time to proceed (e.g., "enter and up"; "enter and left")? By the time I get my fingers on both buttons I forget which one I'm supposed to hit first. It's not a fatal flaw for this feeder, but it's absolutely a flaw worth noting especially when considering how easy the Nanny Cam is to program (see below). 2) the bowl is huge and cannot be substituted without altering the product (or else the food will fall on your cat's head while s/he is trying to eat). This flaw matters because the bowl is massive and my cat has trouble eating out of it AND because it's metal and it would be virtually silent if the food wasn't clinking on the metal during feedings. Yea, I could modify it by making an extension chute for the food (some have suggested PVC pipe) but what the heck am I paying obscene amounts for a product I need to modify to make work for my needs (confession: I don't even know what PVC pipe is). 3) it keeps poor time. We're constantly having to change the time back so it is on pace with the other cat's auto feeder or else the cats are getting fed at different time which is a recipe for World World Meow). 4) You have to buy the A/C adapter, which the product description states. 5) I also worry about Big Silver Bowl's longevity based on recent reviews of that product which suggest it craps out around the 1 year mark. OVERALL, I give it a 4/5 because the thing is so damn hard to program (a flaw which is exacerbated by the fact it keeps poor time and thus requires frequent reprogramming) and because it is very pricey for what it is ($129.99) (compare to the nifty Nanny Cam at 149.99, see below). I don't see how Big Silber Bowl can stay at the top Amazon pet feeder slot at that price now that Nanny Cam is on the market. Since May 2017, Tessy is usingSmartFeeder,WOpet Automatic Pet Feeder for Dog or Cat,Control by Iphone,Andriod or other smart devices (White) (which I will refer to as the "Nanny Cam" feeder). Holy smokes we have a winner. For just $20 more than Big Silver Bowl feeder ($149.99) (see below) you can freakin' stalk your little divas from anywhere in the world! NANNY CAM GENERAL COMMENTS: The instructions were in "English" but were very poorly written. They did not include any instructions on how to physically set up the feeder, just how to download the app and program it (which were also not clear, but manageable if you are somewhat tech savvy). You MUST use the AC adapter in order to program the feeder via the App (I used my iPhone 6S with Time Warner 2.4 ghz WiFi and had no issues). You MUST have backup batteries in the feeder in case the power goes out (which would disable the Wifi connection). At that point, the feeder will run off the last known programming before the power went out. It measures quantity by "portions". What the heck is a portion of cat chow, you ask? My at-home experiments showed that 1 portion is approximately 1/12th a cup of food. So, 3 portions = 1/4 a cup. NANNY CAM PROS: 1) Comes with it's own A/C adapter (with a fairly long cord). 2) Reliable feeding even if the compartment is low and even if the power goes out (provided you have back-up batteries). Great for peace of mind while out of town. Also easy to login to modify the size/timing of the automatic feeding schedule AND can manually feed while not at home (which is an easy way to get your cats in the camera shot for funsies). Can also manually feed by pressing the button on the unit when home. 3) Camera is high quality when there is decent lighting. Try the HD setting -- the default is SD (HD uses a lot of cell data, beware). 4) Although the live voice feature might be good for some, it scares the living bejesus out of my cats, so I'd recommend trying it while home first so you can reassure them if upset. 5) seems almost impossible to open by either a dog or cat (very sturdy lid), although neither of my cats have ever been the type to attempt to break into feeders (as i've read about other cats on other feeder reviews). 6) i love that the unit itself is very simple - no conveyor belt or weird pieces to fill. Lid just flips open and you fill it. Bowl removes fairly easily for cleaning. NANNY CAM CONS: 1) As noted above, the instructions were poor. Couldn't even find what type of batteries it took (Size D, 3 of them). Also doesn't explain what the different lights on the unit mean. 2) On that note, when the power is out, the "Alarm" light goes on on the top of the unit, but does not indicate whether or not the batteries are recognized. Would be very reassuring to know it senses the batteries and that they have enough juice to manage the feedings w/o power. Also, does alarm just indicate low power, or could it mean low food? Idk. The "set" button is the manual feed button. No idea why it's called "set" bc you don't "set" anything with it (as far as I can tell). 3) there is no clock on the unit so you need to look at the app to know the time until next feeding. you can't really do anything from the unit besides a manual feeding. I could imagine that might be tricky if you lock yourself out of your account or the person with access isn't around. 4) Because it relies on WiFi, the live video feed is only as reliable as your home Wifi connection. Will sometimes be slow to load or will freeze. However, this does not affect the feeding functionality as far as i can tell. 5) The listen feature is essentially useless because it is so sensitive. It picks up a lot of weird noises your naked ear can't hear, including the sound of the water pipe pumping water into my house (which I had no idea made a sound). So, forget about being able to hear if there is an intruder in your home. NANNY CAM OVERALL: 5/5 - but I'd give 4.5 if I could -- the missing 1/2 star would be awarded if the unit would tell you whether or not your batteries are working. It really is an excellent product; I'm thankful for how far auto feeders have come since 2011! The Nanny Cam was purchased to replaceAspen Pet Lebistro Programmable Food Dispenser- 18 Cup (which I will refer to as "LeBistro"). I liked LeBistro, particularly because it was small, easy to program, and permitted sufficiently small portions. However, it constantly got food stuck in the chamber (Purina One), requiring us to pound it on the top to make the food dispense. Also, the batteries got low very quickly although the low battery warning light was somewhat deceiving - I got it to last almost 2 months with the warning light on. We noticed it more frequently got jammed when the battery was lower. (I realized AFTER i bought Nanny Cam that i could have used an AC adapter for LeBistro, so I am keepin
