Having bought way more than the average number of electric blankets for myself, my family, my guests and more I’m beginning to think I have learned a few things. I hope to share them with you here. I try to stick to facts not opinion but no review would be complete without both. First on my list is that although I have bought this identical heated mattress pad in the past, more than four years ago, things change and for that reason I actually took a couple of weeks to put a lot of thought into whether I want a pad or a blanket and whether I wanted one that used full electrical power or low voltage. If you are swayed by ads that try to make other things important, in my opinion the rest is secondary and most of it is a matter of taste rather than if the product is right for you.PAD vs BLANKETThe first is really important and you a probably looking at mattress pads because you already have at least partially made up your mind. In simplest terms, a pad lays under you and a blanket lays on top. That sounds simple but there actually much more to it. Before even getting into the science of it, there is the question of creature comfort. A pad goes on your mattress and your bottom sheet goes on top of it. It then stays there. So you can’t adjust where the heat is coming from or make changes as you sleep, the heat will always be warming you relatively evenly from underneath from head to toe. If your back is too warm but your toes are too cold there’s nothing you can do about it other than turn the entire pad’s temperature up, down or off. On the other hand, a blanket lays on top of you. It never warms your head or neck and from there down you can push the blanket down or pull it up to expose your toes to give yourself some amount of zone adjustment. Some people like the cozy added weight of a blanket on top of them and some prefer just a lightweight bedspread or comforter, and for them a pad may be a better choice. You can see why this all isn’t an instant decision. The science part is easy - heat rises. A pad’s heat is more efficient because the warming effect rises up and is trapped by your pillow, upper sheet and comforter if you use one. A blanket’s heat rises as well and is lost into the cold room so it MAY take more energy to get the same warming effect. In my opinion, safety is not something that inherently is better or worse between the two choices but with a pad the cord can be safely tucked under the bottom sheet and under the bed while with a blanket there is the matter of the cord hanging down and getting tangled or being a tripping hazard, but I wouldn’t lay awake at night worrying about it.FULL ELECTRIC OR LOW VOLTAGEI have learned to be much more partial to low voltage blankets for many reasons. When they first came out price was the big deciding factor and a good one still can be as much as four times more than an economy full electric blanket or pad. What do I mean by full electric and low voltage? Full electric blankets/pads work like almost any electric space heater, toaster or other appliance - they run electricity at full power (120 volts in the U.S.) through heating wires in the blanket. Because of the higher voltage the wires always have to be thicker and thus stiffer and heavier. That becomes a comfort issue. There is also (to me) the concern of EMF radiation, which has been reduced in modern blankets/pads but can’t be eliminated. And of course if you are running full electric power through wires on your bed you might have concerns about electric shock or fire. Low voltage blankets are just what they sound like, they use a transformer that usually lays on your floor near your electrical outlet and the wires inside the blanket/pad can be ultra thin and only a minimal amount of voltage, enough to be safe to the touch and theoretically less of a fire hazard. The thin wires make them much more flexible and comfortable and usually do better in the wash. The only real negative from some of the very early ones was the transformer made a slight buzz which could be heard by some very light sleepers. Users say that if they put the transformer under the bed or behind a nightstand that usually took care of any hum but the latest models have eliminated any hum.DIGITAL OR MANUAL CONTROLLERThe final decision is whether to choose a digital or manual controller. I have a decided preference for the manual kind. Some people shy away from them because they remind them of the very old electric blankets they grew up with the clicked on and off during the night. Today’s manual controls don’t have any clicking sounds at all they are just as silent as digital controls. I have yet to find a digital control that is well designed, you have to look closely at it while you are using it which means reaching over at three in the morning in the dark to turn the heat up or down by touch is almost impossible. They have no advantages at all and most only operate with preset heating levels - some have five, some have ten and some have twenty. The rotary knob on this one is infinite, so I can find the just right temperature I need. And it does have a lighted display, but not numbers, you look at your temperature setting on a dial. That can be much faster to set. I also like that the power switch is mechanical so I know by pressing it if it is on or off and I don’t have to remember which one it is like on many digital controls, I can do it by touch. Most digital controls you have to wake the controller up before being able to find the power switch and some don’t even tell you whether the power is on or off.IMPROVEMENTSA subtle but welcome improvement of this pad is that the connector that the wire plugs into is not only at the corner of the pad but located on the elastic side. I consider this a major improvement. One of the biggest complaints about both heated pads and blankets is that awful hard and bulky connection which for unexplained reasons they usually put right at your feet (or under your head if you route the wire to the head of your bed). It has kept many people awake during the night. This one locates that connector near the corner and what ends up being the edge of your mattress where it is completely out of the way. Thank makes it far less likely to get caught up in your bedding and if you locate it at the head of your bed it places it closest to your nightstand so you don’t have wires everywhere that can be tripped on.ADJUSTABLE BED OWNERS TAKE NOTEOver the summer I bought an electric powered adjustable bed, which is becoming more and more of a choice now that prices have come down. They can be tricky when using electric blankets or pads because the wires can easily get pinched by the movement of the bed, which could be a serious safety concern. By locating the connector near the corner and at the edge of the mattress I can wrap my fitted bottom sheet over it at the head of my bed so when I raise and lower my bed it is impossible to pinch the wires. If you have such a bed this is an important point to take into consideration and now that I’ve seen it this pad becomes my top choice for use with adjustable beds.IS THIS A GOOD BRANDThere are only a few makers of low voltage blankets and pads and some news sources say that the actual product all might be made by only one or two actual companies. The biggest difference is the controller (see below) being either digital or manual. This brand was the earliest one I ever saw and the first one I bought several years ago and their product is virtually identical to what it looked like back then. The pad is a little fancier looking, not that matters if it is below your sheet) but the controller looks the same. I still have that old one, but it is for a twin bed and I needed one for a full size this time. Oh and by the way, finding heated blankets or pads for full size bed is nearly impossible in retail stores and some online places charge a hefty premium for it because it is not as common of a size these days.YES NO MAYBEIt sounds like this may be the ideal heated mattress pad, but wait, there are two things missing that some people may find to be important. One is a user programmable off time (this one automatically shuts off after 10 hours whether you want it to or not). And the other is a preheat button, which in my opinion is a marketing buzzword, all I have to do to preheat my pad is turn the temperature knob up high to warm the bed then turn it back down to my desired temperature before crawling into bed. Easy. After my most careful consideration this pad comes out as the best choice. I’ve bought it before and I bought it again.