Long review but hopefully very informative!I recently purchased this feeder because my 1 y.o. cat had his annual Vet visit on Friday and I was told BG needed to lose 2 lbs. That's right, 2 lbs. BG isn't fat by any means. The Vet said he is unusually long but he weighed 13.2 lbs and she would prefer he weigh about 11. At the Vet's recommendation last summer when I adopted him at 3 months of age, she said to allow him to free feed 24/7 for the first year because he was growing and having access to food was vital. BG is also a very active, sometimes to the point of being hyper...you know, the Frenetic Random Activity Periods (FRAP) aka zoomies! I'm sure he is burning a lot of calories so his weight was never a concern to me. What was a concern was something happening to me while away from home and BG not having access to a sufficient food supply. So, I opted to continue to free feed. Online description says when full this would feed an avg cat for up to 25 days and 22 lb dog for approximately 10 days. Even though it can be a good food supply for a cat for several weeks the online articles say you shouldn't leave a cat unattended for more than 48 hours.I took my Vet's recommendation to heart and decided to look into an automatic pet feeder. I was believing they would be so costly that I would not be able to invest in one but I was surprised to see this specific brand/model on sale for $47. I saw some that were $80-$100+. Well, I was interested in an automatic feeder but not something that would break the bank. I found a different one that had approximately 300 reviews and it looked nice BUT the drawback was many customers were saying cats and small dogs could stick their paws up inside the feeder to release more food. Thus, a concern about overeating or a pet getting injured. So, I continued searching and found this one. It has 1,000+ reviews and I couldn't beat the price.The feeder arrived in its original box, not inside another box. So, if you're looking to surprise someone with it as a gift they are going to see the product immediately. There were several cardboard inserts to hold the feeder securely in place. The feeder was also wrapped in plastic the C-adapter/USB cord was placed in a smaller bag.A lot of reviews mentioned how difficult it was to program the feeder. I am tech savvy. I'm the one who programs other people's phones, sets up their computers and smart TVs, etc but I would agree with the reviewers. The instructions are a little difficult but not impossible to follow. I read the 10-page manual from beginning to end in about 5 minutes. I am clinically diagnosed OCD so orderliness is a big deal to me. After one unsuccessful attempt at programming I implemented a plan and then everything went off without a hitch.1. I wrote my desired program settings down BEFORE going into the settings menu. This allowed me to see everything at a glance.2. Insert your 3 D cell batteries and program your feeder while operating off batteries rather than plugging in to an electrical outlet. This will allow you to hold the feeder and/or have it sitting on a table while you are reading instructions and programming simultaneously.3. Make sure you have the feeder turned on! There's an On/Off switch on the bottom of the base.4. Make sure you Unlock the settings or you will be pressing buttons and not getting anywhere. That was my first mistake.5. Write down your desired meal times, portions (F-00), and whether you want a recorded message to play during each meal (PL-0, no msg and PL-1, play recorded msg)6. After you have completed all your desired settings make sure you hold the Settings/Next Step button until you hear a beep. That tells you settings have been saved.7. THEN hold both the Voice Recording/Decrease button AND the Manual Feeding/Increase button at the same time and when you hear a beep your feeder is LOCKED.PROS:1. Well packaged2. Nice instruction manual with illustrations and explanation of all buttons and LED values.3. At-A-Glance instructions on top of the lid. Once you are familiar with programming the feeder you won't need to keep pulling the manual out.4. Transparent window to let you see level of food remaining in feeder5. Locking lid that must be released in 2 positions to prevent spills or pet from removing lid to access contents.6. Food bin is removable to allow for cleaning.Update: IF you try to remove bin from base with contents all the kibbles continue to spill out. Thus, you will want to clean when container is empty and ready to be refilled.7. Battery backup to allow feeder to continue to work during a power outage. The LED panel will not stay lit if running off batteries alone but can be lit up with just a touch of the button. This is a battery saving feature.8. You can use other feeding dishes with this feeder as long as they fit under the lip of the base.9. There is a sensor in the chute that will detect a certain level of food in the dish. It will not dispense food if it senses that level of food. This prevents food from spilling over.Update: A month later and I haven't seen the feeder not dispense because it sensed a max level.10. Once you are familiar with programming the feeder it's easy to edit the different settings.11. It's a quiet motor. BG loves watching the food as it's being dispensed.12. You can program 1-6 meals daily. If you don't want to program 6 meals you can just enter F-00 and no food will be dispensed. That will eliminate some servings.13. You can program meal portions from 10-500g. My Vet recommended BG have 60g daily because he also eats wet food every evening. So, I programmed 6 meals in 4 hour intervals with 10g each.Update: After 2 weeks BG wasn't eating all food during 6 daily servings so I eliminated 2 of the servings.Almost 2 days later and BG hasn't emptied his bowl between feedings yet so the 10g portions 6x daily seem to be working well for him.14. Programming meals might keep your little furbaby from trying to wake you up in the wee hours of the morning when they want you to feed them.15. I LOVE the design and it has a nice appeal in my kitchen as it compliments BG's gravity water reservoir and as you can see it doesn't take up a lot of space.Please change the desiccant every month. Recommend 1.77*2.36in desiccant bags.The online description recommends you change the desiccant bag monthly to keep food fresh. I also did some research for the sake of my cat's health. The desiccant bag is like the little pouches you see in foods, shoeboxes, electronics, etc. They are used to remove moisture so it's recommended you replace these to remove moisture from the food storage bin; especially IF you live in a very humid climate. The bin is so airtight that I believe if I have done well to keep BG's dry food dry while stored in a locking food bin that the food bin with feeder will also be okay. However, IF you choose to replace the desiccant bag on a regular basis it is necessary that you not purchase bags that use color changing beads because the chemicals they use to manufacture those color-changing beads are toxic to pets. Online articles say you should CHOOSE DESICCANT BAGS THAT SAY THE PRODUCT IS SILICA GEL AND THE BEADS ARE EITHER WHITE OR A LITTLE TRANSLUSCENT BUT NOT COLORED. They even recommend repurposing the little pouches that are coming inside other products. Just store them in an airtight container or resealable bag until you are ready to use.CON: ONLY ONEUsing the Voice Recorder is a cute feature but it's LOUD and has no volume control. I thought it would be cute for BG to hear my voice while I was at work but it's so loud it freaked him out. He was running from it AND then he was reluctant to return to the feeder because one time while he was eating the Voice Recording went off for the next meal and I can only imagine how loud it sounded to him while he was eating right up against the feeder as that loud voice projected toward his head. I turned off the Voice Recording for all meals.My pictures show the feeder with original food bowl and with BG's bowl. I have also included picture of box as it was delivered, contents are disclosed. And I am including a picture of what a 10g serving size looks like when dispensed into BG's bowl. Picture with Ginger Ale bottle can give you an idea of the size of feeder. Plus BG's feeding station is on a 12x19 mat. His bowl is a smidgen over the edge. The bowl with feeder is even bigger.