Euro-Pro GI490 Iron with Auto Shut-off

Quite literally the only thing this iron has going for it is the 'fancy' stainless look and it's long cord. Even that doesn't last. It's sole plate scratches easily and gets a grungy dingy coating on it after a short time using it.

Iron cord wraps around bottom of base which is kind of a pain when you are trying to wrap it quickly without getting burned. The base (first couple of inches coming out of the iron) of the electric cord is stout and points downward toward the ironing board while it is sitting, so it makes it easy to tip the iron over (too far forward), which I did several times.

The sole plate only has steam holes around the outer edges which means you have to constantly press the Spray or Steam burst buttons to get enough steam to press your clothes properly. The dial selector has several steam settings but what good does it do when there are no holes for it to come out of?

There is a Self Clean mechanism on the dial, but I could tell no difference when using it. The filling chamber was the worst I've ever seen. It flips up but won't stay open while you are trying to fill it making you spill water all over the place. You can see through the clear side how high the water goes and there is a max line to avoid overfilling. Still a poor, poor designing of this iron everywhere you turn. I found many things very frustrating about this one.

Even the handle of the iron is irritating. It is slick underneath where your hand needs to grip the iron but has a rubber grip on top where your palm rests?? Makes no sense to me. Wouldn't it make more sense to put a grip where you need to hold onto the iron to avoid dropping it??

The heat controls are nifty in design appearance. You push one selector button on the top of the handle which turns on the light selector. You push it repeatedly until it rises to the desired setting and then stop letting it heat up and it notifies you with a light when it's finished. All is great until the iron quits working/heating up or lighting up. My husband's grandmother went through 2 of these exact same irons in a short time and had to buy another one and now I see why. Don't waste your money. This pretty iron will look gorgeous on top of my garbage heap and some other poor unsuspecting person will think, "Who would throw away such a wonderful iron??" My advice: Don't walk, run away from this one.