I sent this toaster back after 4 weeks of occasional use. I bought it after reading all the great customer reviews and was greatly disappointed. The toaster does have the capacity to toast quite thick items such as bagels, but for a regular slice of toast, it does not do a good job. Because of the wide openings for bagels, when it pulls down a regular size piece of bread, it pulls the bread closer to one side rather than right in the middle. I like my toast medium brown, it always came out with one side medium brown and the other side was merely warmed--no color.