At the time of this review, I've just finished my first lunch from it. If I feel so inclined I'll certainly add more notes to this in the future after it's gotten some heavier use. So far, though, so good. I've been losing some weight and I want to keep that up. I also found out recently that for work I'm going to be moving from the building that I'm in, which has a cafeteria, into a different building without a cafeteria. I'll be needing to bring my lunch then, it's far too costly to keep going out to lunch every day. That all said, this product has 2 purposes for me: Portion Control for weight loss and eating healthier, and Money Savings since it's so much cheaper to make your own food than to go out and eat (not to mention gas/parking issues as well). I received the container on Monday (Dec. 31, 2012) and washed it yesterday to use today (Jan 2, 2013). Last night before bed, I put the following items into it (Bowls are from bottom up): 1) Bottom (Soup, 9oz) bowl - a slice of smoked pork loin that I made Monday. 2) Lower Middle (Main, 15oz) bowl - bean soup that I also made on Monday. 3) Upper Middle (Large Side, 10oz) bowl - some Chex Mix. 4) Top (Small Side, 7oz) bowl - some smoked apple slices that I made on Monday. If you actually read that above, you will see my mistake. The bottom bowl is meant for soup, not the top one. I read everything too, just didn't retain and last night I was hungry for soup so I wanted it in the biggest bowl. What's good to know is that although there was some spillage there was only very little. I carried it upright for the most part but when I got into my car to come to work I threw my laptop and the lunch bag into the back seat so it was on its side for about 45 minutes in the car. The gravy in the bottom bowl did not spill even a drop though, so it looks like that bowl will be great for liquids. Tomorrow, I'll switch the containers that the loin and the soup are in, there's too much food anyway! --Heat Retention: Please see the notes below that I've taken straight from the Zojirushi web site (but not on the Amazon page) on this product: Heat Retention After 6 Hours* 153°F Cold Retention After 6 Hours** 50°F Color Lemon Yellow, Apple Red, Gun Metalic, Silver *Rating is based on water at a starting temperature of 203°F (95°C) at a room temperature of 68°F (20°C) **Rating is based on water at a starting temperature of 40°F (4°C) at a room temperature of 68°F (20°C) First, I'm assuming they used the bottom (soup) bowl for this. It definitely had the best heat retention for the 2 bowls that it's intended for (soup and large main bowl). My pork loin was still really warm and the soup was warn but not as much. After I packed the bowls, I put them into the refrigerator (without the main container). This morning I took the tops off of the hot food bowls and put them into the microwave for a couple of minutes, making them hot but nothing crazy like the 203°F they listed above. I put the lids back on and put everything into place into the container and left shortly therearfter. That was about 7:10 AM. I got to work and left the lunch container on my desk (not in the refrigerator) until about 11:30 AM when I got hungry. so 4 hours, 20 minutes. I'd say all together the soup bowl kept the pork loin about 80% as hot as it started, and the larger bowl kept my soup about 60% as hot as it was. For me, this is good - I don't like food to be super hot anyway, and like I said I didn't start off with it at some crazy heat anyway. As far as the top two containers, they were both pretty much room temperature inside as advertised. As they were snacks I wasn't trying to keep them cold. Note that only the bottom 2 containers will retain heat or cold levels at all - the top two are not insulated and are intended to maintain temperatures that are found outside of the unit. I've read that heating or cooling the lids ahead of time also help to retain temperatures you desire. I'll try that myself, too. --Size/Weight: So I've seen some reviews where people are complaining that the size of the thing is too large and others that say it's too small. Some say it's not heavy, others say it is way too heavy. Obviously this is going to be a perosnal choice and I'd rather give you some details and let you make your decision based on those, not other people's opinions that may not be your own. From the Zojirushi web site: Dimensions (W x D x H) 6 x 5-3/8 x 8-3/4 inches The width of 6" is at its widest point, which includes the clips on the sides. The depth of 5-3/8" must be the smaller area without the clips but that's not correct. The width of the tube itself, the top and the bottom is just 5". The 8-3/4" height is not correct - it's actually 8-1/2" tall - not a big deal, I know, but I'm trying to be literal here. I have no idea why their dimensions are off but I'm sure my ruler isn't wrong. To me the size of the thing is perfectly fine - but I knew how big it would be based on reading reviews and seeing the dimensions listed. I don't mind that it's acutally slightly smaller than advertised, either. The listed weight is 2.07 pounds including the bag per their web site. I didn't weigh it but sure, that seems right. With the food that I put in it, I'd think I added less than 1/2 a pound. So...2.5 pounds total for lunch? I don't see that as a problem whatsoever, plus the bag is very handy and has a long strap which has no problems carrying the weight. --Cleaning: This is one of my main concerns with this, and I'll probably just have to deal with it. I cleaned out the soup bowl a little while ago (after I started writing this review, in fact) and it washed out very nicely and easy. The soup was dark, the bowl was white, and there's no stains or any leftover residue that was hard to clean up. I'll take care of the others when I get home...but that's where the concern is. Normally with any lunch I may bring it's in separate containers from Rubbermade or ziplock or whatever. Those can go in the dishwasher....so clean up is a breeze. This stuff isn't supposed to go into the dishwasher though, which is the one thing I don't like. Since I only have one of these I wouldn't be washing it in the dishwasher every day anyway - but I won't be bringing this to work every single day and just because it's a little more sanitary I do like to wash things in the dishwasher now and then to make sure it's very clean (for instance, I bring my coffee cup from work home once or twice a month just to run it through a cycle). I don't have those options with this....which is probably why I have 4 stars instead of 5. I really don't understand how something can be microwave safe, holding starting temps just over 200°F per their own web site, can't handle a dishwasher. Now a quick online search of dishwasher temperatures show that they are generally in the 140-150 range, but that dishwashers with heating elements can bring it up quite a bit higher if you have them dry the dishes themselves. I don't do this because it really doesn't seem to actually dry the dishes anyway - you'd think a warning like "Dishwasher safe, top rack and air dry only" would suffice...but I have to wonder if there are other reasons. Another reviewer on this product here said they lost the valve on the soup bowl because they always wash the parts in the dishwasher.....so I'd think it DOES work fine in the dishwasher but don't take that statement as the truth from me please. I may try it out myself just to see, and if I do I'll add a comment to this review later to let you know how it went. --Overall Quality This is a big plus. This unit seems to be made extremely well, the clips are strong and the lids stay on tight. The large main container and soup bowl lids were a little tough to take off but I did screw them on tight. The spoon, probably easily looked over, is actually pretty nice for an "addon" or "value-added" item. I like that it comes with a hard plastic cover that snaps on, plus there's
