Bostitch Twist n Sharp Pencil Sharpener

I was pleasantly surprised to see that it does a good job of sharpening my colored pencils. I'm used to an electric pencil sharpener which seems so simple to use but, unfortunately, is more complicated than it looks. I don't seem to have any control over the electric sharpener. I guess that I just never learned how to use it. I put the pencil in, wait, and it may or may not sharpen (and may or may not eat my pencil to a stub). That's why I wanted to replace it, and this product was reasonably priced. This thing, I can fully control. I can just keep turning the pencil until it's sharpened. No drama. No tricks. No problems. It works well, and I like it better than the electric sharpener. That said, it isn't all that great. The negative aspects of this pencil sharpener are that, first of all, it takes a relatively long time to work. Eventually, my pencils were sharpened. But I kept turning, pausing, checking, turning, pausing, and checking...before they were sharp enough. Secondly, the point is fairly short. It won't last long before it needs to be sharpened again. Thirdly, I seriously had to watch an instructional video on YouTube to figure out how to open the pencil sharpener so that I could clean it out. The plastic on the side opens. But you'd never figure that out by tugging it. I needed to use a flat-edge screwdriver. And that wasn't only the first time. I thought, once I had it opened that first time, I'd be able to just remove the side cover without using a tool afterwards. But no. It fits too snugly to be able to remove it by hand, and I'm not about to sacrifice my fingernails, either. I'd call that a design flaw. Your mileage may vary, though. Perhaps my sharpener was a lemon. All in all, I feel as if I got my money's worth. I don't suggest you steer clear of this. But it is a nuisance to deal with it, and be careful if you do have to use a sharp object to remove the plastic case.