Elite Gourmet Electric BPA-Free Kettle

Arrived today. Out of the box, it seemed overall a reasonably quality made product. Nice weight. Pretty colour---NOT WHITE more of a beige colour, which is fine by me. Looks nice on the stove top. Has a sort of romantic, girly looking theme to the design with the faux diamond pieces which are plastic not glass. For this price point, would it have killed them to make the knob out of glass? It would have helped justify the high price. Would make a nice wedding or anniversary present. Even empty, the pot is fairly weighty. The cord and base look well made but the base is lightweight plastic. Directions were to fill the kettle with cold water to the max fill level, boil, empty, and repeat before consuming water boiled in it. It boiled the water quickly as expected---5 cups worth. The lever lights up blue whilst it is turned on. Automatically shuts off once the water reaches the boiling point. I awarded three stars only because of the high price point for what one is getting and because this kettle is awkward in the hand---not ergonomically designed at all. This kettle is OVERPRICED. $30 or even $35 would be an equitable price point although $35 is really pushing it. I expect the overpricing is based not on functionality but looks. Instead of this kettle, I would rather have had another of Maxi-Matic's Elite Cuisine Hot Pots which do the same job and more, and are really excellent value for money by comparison. The hot pots are plastic, and you cannot remove them from their bases, and they do not have an on/off switch and do not turn themselves off automatically, but they are VERY functional. They heat water very fast for beverages and for cooking, and with the removable egg rack and steamer rack which come standard with the hot pots, they are great for boiling eggs and steaming veggies and fish, and for steaming rolls and reviving stale bread, etc. The hot pots are also good for heating soups and broths and keeping them warm because the pots have a variable heat control unlike this kettle. They are excellent units to keep by the bedside if you are ill. You can easily heat food in them and keep the food warm right by the bedside instead of walking back and forth from the kitchen with plates/bowls of food. If you are sick, you can limit trips to the kitchen to twice per day or less if you do not mind leaving your used plate/bowl in the bedroom overnight. The hot pots are white plastic, though, so some foods, e.g. carrots and tomato based soups and stews, etc., will stain the white plastic, but that is true of any white plastic products. Best of all, I only paid $15 for each one of my two Maxi-Matic hot pots. They are not especially pretty, but they are versatile workhorses that lasted a good 3-4 years with every day use. PLEASE BRING BACK THE HOT POTS!! They are very good value for money. ETA: I have used this kettle for a few days now, and I have found it awkward to handle, which surprised me. Holding it at the top of the handle it does not feel secure or easy to pour. Holding it at the base of the handle it feels more secure in my hand, but it is not easy to pour. I have decided to return it for this reason. Your milage may vary of course, but it just does not work for me. Also wanted to add that the outside of the kettle gets much warmer than the outside of the Miroco kettle I bought to replace this one by Elite Gourmet.