I've never owned a juice extrator before, and have only used this one once now, but I'm really happy with it. It does a very good job of extracting the juice. The juice to food ratio was a lot better than I thought it would be and the remaining solids have about the consistency of cookie dough. The only thing I don't like is that it kind of spits at you a little everytime you take the handle out to add more fruit or vegetables. Not very much, but you don't want to get any little dots of beets on your shirt. I don't know if other juicers do this, but I'm guessing thats the price you pay for getting the big mouth. We just threw a bunch of stuff in there that we had in the fridge: beets, kiwi, apples, pears, oranges, carrots, celery, then taste it and a little more sweet fruits, or a little more lemon and vegetables for tartness to get the taste right.