Euro-Pro GI490 Iron with Auto Shut-off

I'm afraid this review won't add anything to the debate. This iron is a piece of junk. I see that mine lasted longer than most -- three years -- before giving up the ghost. But it's been a painful three years.

From Day One, it's been very difficult to fill the iron with water. The filler hole is oddly-angled, too small, and obstructed by plastic cross-pieces. During filling, surface tension invariably results in a blob of water that won't go through the hole, creating an obstruction that results in the water you're attempting to pour into the thing running out all over the ironing board. I challenge anyone to fill this thing without spilling a drop.

Heat-up time is very long compared to any of the irons I've owned. Hell, it's long compared with the crummy Sunbeam irons you find in hotels. You pretty much have to wait two minutes or so until you hear the "tink" of the internal sensor before using it. Otherwise you'll wind up re-ironing. And even after the iron is hot, you have to hold the thing horizontally and shake it to get the water to flow where it needs to be to produce steam. (This is a design flaw, not calcium build-up; I run it through self-cleaning all the time.) And the steam volume is so low, you have to put it on maximum/continuous just to produce enough to get the job done.

After two years of service, the "chrome" started peeling off the under side of the handle (where your fingers rest), belying lousy build quality. The capper was two weeks ago when I turned the thing on to iron a shirt before running for a plane, only to have it do... absolutely nothing! Fortunately, it only to 10 minutes or so to find my old Black & Decker in the attic. I had forgotten how good the iron which I ditched to "upgrade" to the Shark was.

I rarely give anything one star (or four/five stars). But if I could give the Shark zero stars, I surely would.

Do not buy this iron.