Great machine

I've read the other reviews and am surprised by the negative responses. My family has only used the Rival 8550-x three or four times now, but it has performed well.

The first two times we made ice cream via homemade recipes. The last time we bought a special mix and made it (instead of strictly homemade) and was the best ice cream we had. Rich, creamy, hard.

We had no problem with the ice cream freezing. The Rival performed perfectly. Also, we had no problems with the ice cream forming crystals.

We'll have to wait and see if the parts wear too soon. But so far, no problem.

My suggestion: Don't expect a 150.00 machine when you pay around 40.00 for it.

It delivers exactly what it should for the price.: Great ice cream for a small family.

It was perfect for an after dinner meal for a family of four. Should you have company, you might want to ask your friends to bring their ice cream freezer as well.

The noise level was tolerable. We were in the living room and did have to turn the television up a bit, but it wasn't as bad as older ones.

If you are sitting outside you'll be able to carry on a conversation without the machine bothering you.

I have not added extra ingredients so don't know how it would react with extras, as another article suggested it caused problems.

Still, overall I'd suggest this for a family of four or less. You can't go wrong. At 40.00, if it breaks after a year or two (we're on year 2) you wouldn't be as upset as you would if you paid a much larger price.

I found only one con which would be if you are a bigger family.

But if you are a small family and weigh the fact that you'll have ice cream in 30 minutes or less, manageable noise level, easy to set up and use against the price of bigger machines, you'll definitely be pleased with this unit.
Good luck!