Side by Side Comparison of: Top Quality Art Supplies vs School Smart

If you are looking for a sharpener you MUST buy this one. I have never had a sharpener work so flawlessly. Super sharp tip every time!!

This little sharpener works as promised. Easy to use and costs little to operate. I can use AA batteries or use the USB cable that comes with the unit. I connect the USB cable to my laptop and sharpen pencils effortlessly. IT also comes with a spare blade.All in all, it is a great buy.

I love it! It sharpens fast and at a great sharpness

[...]I bought this to use for our homeschool. We have a large family and were constantly breaking pencil sharpeners. Found this one while looking around on Amazon and figured we would give it a try. I was very impressed with how well it worked. It works really well for being so tiny. It takes up very little desk space and is very portable!It leaves a very nice strong tip on the pencil when it is sharpened. We were constantly breaking brand new tips off with our other sharpeners.We are constantly using this pencil sharpener. I have recommended it to friends and family as well as given it a positive review on my blog.We have only had it a few weeks. I have been impressed with it so far...and look forward to see how it holds up to our daily use over time.My only small complaint would be that the shaving compartment fills up quickly...but then again..it could just be the volume of people who regularly use it at our house.This large family gives this a big thumbs up!

I'll be honest with you: I purchase what I thought was a cheap pencil sharpener. I did it on purpose because my boy loves sharpening pencils and has a long history of wearing out even the most expensive sharpeners. After a quick cost-benefit analysis, hubs and I decided $10 (the cost of this sharpener) a month was well worth the indulgence.I thought at this low price, the blade would be dull or would sharpen unevenly. I was wrong. This may be the best sharpener we have ever purchased! We've had this sharpener for a while now, and I think I severely underestimated its sturdiness. It's not delicately built. The shavings cup fits snugly and doesn't fall off, but is easy to remove for emptying.The listing says "battery operated," and it is, but it also comes with an USB charging cord. Score! I keep it "plugged into" my computer, but have also installed batteries so my boy can sharpen pencils in his room when he likes.I feel ridiculous being so enthusiastic about a pencil sharpener, but if you happen to be an Autism mom/dad, I think you'll understand. The rest of you? Take my word for it: this little sharpener is the one you want.

 Wow! I'm not hyping this product up and I'm not easy to please, but this sharpener is fantastic! Interestingly enough, I just spend a lot of money on a Bosch electric sharpener and it was a piece of crap. I was skeptic about this one because it's not a "brand" that I would buy - but take a look at the video when I tested this product - it will speak for itself!The is a compact sharperner that you can place in the corner of your desk - doesn't take a lot of room. It's powered by either 4 AA batts or by a USB cable attached to your computer or wall - awesome idea! It's a no fuss sharperner that works really well. I inserted the sharperner for less than 5 seconds and the outcome was sooo sharp and fine! The blades are super sharp. It actually comes with a tiny screw driver which will help you change the blade or sharpen it. Absolutely love this electric sharperner and highly recommend it.I purchased this as a bundle with the coloring book and set of coloring pencils. The bundle will make a great gift. I purchased it as a discounted rate in exchange for product testing and unbiased review and feedback. Glad that I had the opportunity to do so.

I love this thing! I cannot comment about longevity but, trust me, if it doesn't hold up long I will update. It is easy to use and empty. It has an automatic stop so when my 8 year old sharpens pencils he cannot go too crazy. It works quickly and easily and leaves a nice point.The only con is it only does standard pencil diameters. I have a set of colored pencils for artwork and a few toddler/preschool fat pencils, but I can manually sharpen those bad boys. I really LOVE this sharpener and it came recommended to me from another homeschooler who has had it over a year and has used it a LOT!

I've been doing research for months, I wanted electric pencil sharpener that will sharpen a pencilwith a long point, Where I work we have all brands X-Acto 1800 1818 - they worked but eats up the pencil& some pencils are sharpened one side. I love panasonic sharpeners but are discontinued, Bostitch didn'tdo a good job & motor didn't last for heavy use from day & night workers. For $15.00 more This School Smartpencil sharpener is well made stronger motor & sturdy its sharpens the pencil faster just by pushing pencil done toa long sharp point evenly, the other sharpens above will move when you push the pencil in to sharpen it. It comeswith a bigger container that easy to remove & empty without no mess. I bought this because it has great reviewsfor lasting a long time without no problems this sharpener has Auto stop it detaches from pencil when thesharpener is done & all you hear is the motor with no more grinding the pencil without wasting the pencil.It even does red pencils with a longer point as no. 2 pencils - as for cheap pencils no. 2 may not sharpevenly but still comes to sharp point. This is a well made strong sturdy solid motor This School Smart Electric Vertical Pencil Sharpener is worth paying the extra money it will last longer.spending the 15.00 more & will last longer for heavy use then other brands.UPDATING REVIEW - 03-19-2016I'm works better than all sharpeners stronger motor, long points, you see in staples, walmart, kmart,at my job co workers & bosses have all brands pencil sharpeners come to me sharpen there pencilsto get the long sharp point - which other brands give small point, or sharpen only on 1 side of the pencili have managers & co-workers who want know where i purchased this, They want if for work & for therechildren other brands don't last long for what i was told who have children, this is solid sturdy I have 50people from day & night shift always using it & no problem still giving long even sharp points on all typepencils.Hackerr10

I bought this pencil sharpener to sharpen regular number two pencils and my assortment of prismacolor pencils. I own well over 100 colored pencils and I sharpened maybe 80 in a row before the sharpener overheated. I thought I broke it but when I read the manual I realized I just had to unplug it and let it cool down for an hour or so. I sharpened about 300 pencils that night and the sharpener was still working strong! Despite prismacolor pencils having brittle tips, the sharpener RARELY broke the tips off of them (my manual sharpener broke tips off every other time and could not get a point close to this sharpener). If you are using this sharpener for prismacolor pencils, know that it might get the tips too sharp, making them more brittle when you actually try to use them.I like my pencil tips sharp and if the end of my no. 2 pencil or HB pencil dulls even a little this sharpener gets it right up to speed in less than a second. I even had prismacolor pencils in which I cut away the wood with a knife to expose more lead but they were dull and the sharpener actually worked on those too! I've sharpened charcoal pencils, carbon pencils, from 9B to 9H drawing pencils, oil based and wax based colored pencils, regular number two pencils and even my eraser pencil and it performed perfectly on all of them.I honestly cannot praise this product enough. I guess the only con is that it is loud, the whole house can hear me sharpen a pencil but I gave that up for the quality. I have owned this sharpener for 2 months now and used it roughly everyday and it still works like a charm. I absolutely recommend it.

I was getting angry at Crayola for having such cruddy colored pencils that were splitting in half and impossible to sharpen. Then the light turned on and I realized, maybe it's the sharpeners I had that were the real problem. I was using tiny cheap manual razor blade sharpeners.I set this up and sharpened all of our colored pencils in it. They have a beautiful sharp tip. I have not sharpened one until it turned off on its own though. Just a few seconds and you get a good tip to sharpen with. If you sharpen it too much, it's so pointy that it breaks a couple of times when you start writing with it.One of our pencils was so damaged and split that this wasn't working on it. I had to try to cut the pencil which I didn't do well with, and I ended up with a pencil that's 1/3 the size of the rest. I just pulled out a ruler - a fully sharpened pencil from tip to where the top of the device is measures 2" - so anything 2" or less will be too short for this, you won't have anything to hold and pull it out with when you sharpen it. 2.75-3" would be minimum.While sharpening several pencils, the top of a pencil fell out and I was afraid it was stuck inside. I took the shavings container off - the lead had fallen into it - great, but the shavings were more like dust (messy) and then I had trouble with it staying on while I finished all the pencils. I emptied it when I was done, and the container snaps on tight, which I think I had failed to do among all the mess. I am not having any problems with the auto-stop or anything.I am very happy with this purchase and so thrilled to have such a nice sharpener in my home!!! I would buy it again.

I am using this sharpener in a third grade classroom. Right now we only have manual wall sharpeners. I have trouble sharpening pencils with any speed at all on those wall sharpeners, and the kids really even have trouble turning the handles. Since I am the one paying for this one, I am not letting the kids use it, so I can't speak to how it will hold up if kids use it, but I love it for myself. It sharpens amazingly fast. I have yet to come across a pencil it won't sharpen. These days the kids bring in many cheap pencils that just won't sharpen on many sharpeners. The lead breaks off constantly as you sharpen. Another teacher came in and borrowed this one and was amazed that it sharpened so quickly and sharpened everything. I can sharpen pencils for the whole class very quickly. I am very happy with my choice.

I love this pencil sharpener. It gives a sharp point and quickly shrpens new pencils. It does need to be emptied often but no a problem. It has survived classroom use better then any electric sharpener I've ever had. I even bought a second one for my house it works so well!

Top Quality Art Supplies Battery Operated Pencil Sharpener (TQEPS-0815) Nice sharpener for desktop. I'm not a power user, but this unit works well and does not "bog down" when sharpening a pencil. I use #2 and colored pencils at work, and find this to be handy, non-obtrusive and small and stylish enough to keep out on the desktop. I appreciate the ability to use a USB connection for power if you do not want to use batteries, but batteries are nice so that this unit can travel nicely. For USB power I plug it into a power bank, not my computer, although I'm certain that would work as well. I've used it several months without any issues. The waste container that holds the shavings detaches and reattaches easily. An extra blade is provided on the bottom of the case for that time when the cutting starts to dull, a nice extra bonus. I anticipate this working for my needs for several years. Having the immediate ability to sharpen pencils with a motorized device is better than what I can do by hand with a manual pencil sharpener. Fast, well-balanced sharpening at your fingertips. Helpful device.

I was kind of excited to try this because I hate manual pencil sharpeners. The very compact and thin and easy to carry in a bag and doesn't take up much space on a shelf. I love that there are 2 ways to operate it, with batteries or a USB port with the cord it came with. Very nice to have both options. Inside the battery slot was a tiny screw driver which is nice to have as well. My only issues is that it was really wobbly and it wouldn't consistently sharpened until I got the hang of how to keep it down but not pushed down too far. It's very fast at sharpening and perfect for our house with as many pencils as we go through for school and work and etc.I did get to try this free but these are my own opinions and experiences.

This is a small, compact battery-operated automatic sharpener which can also be powered by the USB cord included in the pack. I like that I can just plug it in my laptop, using the USB cord, because it saves me from using batteries. There is an extra blade included at the bottom which is nice. This is easy to use, although I have to grip the pencil a bit hard to prevent it from "turning" when the blade turns. Also, the clear case which holds the pencil trimmings doesn't have any side/bottom support so when I pull it out, I have to make sure that I'm beside the trash can so that the trimmings wouldn't spill out. My daughters, who are 5 and 7, tried to sharpen their pencils but needed my help. I tried sharpening pencils and colored pencils here with no problems. Overall, I give it a 4-star since it does what it's supposed to do and sharpens pencils and colored pencils nice and sharp.

So far I am very impressed with this product. The innocent looking box does not tell you that the designers have imagined every situation in which you might need a pencil sharpener and have provided you with the tools to adapt. The device is compact and can be used with batteries, a USB port, or an electrical outlet. It comes with the USB cable connection. (I use the power adapter that came with my iPhone to plug it into an indoor power outlet).The sharpener comes with a second blade plus a tool to remove the blade from a secure location. AND it works beautifully. I only tried it once, though.The reason I did not give it 5 stars is that I have not used it enough to know if I love it and I have not tried to change the blade nor emptied the shavings. I bought this product because I bought colored pencils and a coloring book. I don't normally use pencils so have no way to judge its utility yet.

Not a bad little sharpener- it runs well from a USB adapter (without any batteries inside); be aware they include the special cord (nice 1m. long) but you have to furnish the USB power supply. I don't recommend using your laptop; get a little "brick" like an iPhone charger or the generic equivalent- they're all the same. The sharpener quickly puts a nice point on, with minimal pencil length consumption! The point is a little short, versus say a Panasonic desk unit; it's more comparable to a hand-held sharpener, see photo. The unit seems to be well-made and should last since I use it infrequently and will keep it from abuse. It's 100% plastic and a herd of middle-schoolers might kill it in a few days, but they could likewise kill a block of solid iron on a few days, eh? This sharpener is a good value. Hey, its "#1 SELLER" brand for a reason, right!

Though on the cheap side, this sharpener does the job. It says it can be used with an ac adaptor not included. Make sure your computer is powered on or the sharpener won't have juice to work. It's not very powerful and is slow and sluggish to sharpen but I did get nice sharp points on my pencils. When you receive this, you will hear a rattling noise coming from the battery compartment don't panic as it is the screwdriver included to change out your blade when it gets dull. There is a spare blade stored in the battery compartment. When emptying out the pencil shavings, trying to put the cover back on is challenging. Don't force it as it is thin plastic and could crack easily. The sharpener itself is on the small size which I personally prefer as it doesn't waste desk space.Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising

This does exactly what it says. It sharpens pencils insanely fast and keeps the lead centered.It is not always good about automatically stopping, which costs it a star although I would only take away half a star if I could. I've chewed through a couple pencils accidentally because it didn't stop.

Read a lot of review and all e sharpeners have some issues. Finally decided on this one. This thing is strong and fast. Had to sharpen about 200 pencils for the kids. No problem and fast. I had one issue as the bin gets full pretty quickly. It stopped working. I cleaned the bin and it would not work. Basically, something was stuck somewhere. Eventually got it cleaned and it has been working fine since. Just make sure to keep the bin from getting too full.

I'm a teacher, and I go through electrical sharpeners like nobody's business. Most are just not sturdy enough for use by a class of 30 students who mostly don't take care of things. This one lasts longer than others, surprisingly, because it doesn't look as sturdy as other sharpeners. I have bought three of these. One has lasted me two years (amazing!), one just lasted one year (not bad), and I just purchased another one. I've bought several other brands - X-Acto, Bostitch, and Staples, and none even made it through the year.Other pros: sharpens pencils well every time, not too loud, never breaks pencils, and compact in size. Last year I taught math to a group of student from another classroom, and they would sharpen their pencils on their way out of my classroom!Now if I could just find a stapler that could withstand 6th graders...

Purchased this sharpener for my art pencils. It worked GREAT on my Derwent watercolor 3.8mm core pencils (these are the "old" style that is included with the box set not the newer thicker pencils included in the tins with the flimsy trays). My Faber-Castell Polychromos 4mm core pencils did well; however, they did not fit in as easily as the watercolor pencils but they never got stuck and the outer paint of the pencil was not scratched or damaged. This sharpener DOES NOT work well with the thicker Derwent pencils. My Derwent Artist pencils and my Derwent Inktense pencils pretty much had to be forced in, would sometimes jam, and the outer paint of the pencil ended up being chipped and scrated. Since lubing them up with KY jelly is not a solution, I am going to try try and find a sharpener, probably one offered by Derwent, that will work on their fat pencils. Difficult to color in tight places when I can never get anything by a mildly sharp point on any of their pencils.

So far this pencil has pretty much lived up to the overall reviews that were posted on amazon. The one feature that doesn't work on mine is the auto stop. It doesn't stop when the pencil is sharp. Not a big deal for an 8th grade teacher but for some others it might be a problem. It sharpens quickly and at an acceptable noise level. I look forward to years of sharpening. I have students every hour sharpen pencils daily so it gets a workout. If it last 3 years I will be happy. The only other downside it the shaving holder. When you take it out you really have to be over a trash can as shavings go everywhere if you don't. I have had it for about a month and already it has probably been used 1000 times.Update: I've now had this for about 2 school years ans it is still working good. Worth the price I paid.

I have gone through numerous pencil sharpeners both manual and electric.I could never find one I truly liked because they were all ok to start with and then failed as time went on. Other sharpeners that I have used could never give me a pointy pencil. And in color pencils, many broke the tip so the colored tips just break off and it wouldn't be smoothly sharpened.This electric sharpener right out of the box sharpened pencils and color pencils fast and perfectly. They all had very clean and sharp points as I would expect.I had a ton of pencil and color pencils to sharpen and I was able to sharpen about 20 and the sharpener stopped sharpening (over heating). That is expected of all electronic sharpeners.After a cool down it continued to sharpen about 10 more and then I was done.All sharpened perfectly without any hitch. I did empty out the bin during the cool down period.I couldn't give it 5 stars because it does need improvement.1-It looked big when put together but when you actually take the shaving bin out, it isn't that big. And 30 probably would have been the limit before having to empty it.2-The shaving bin does NOT sit flush with the sharpener. There is a slight gap along the top of the shaving bin. When sharpening, some of the smaller shavings get flung upwards came out.Other than that, for normal use I probably wouldn't be sharpening so many at once so hopefully this will last me a looooooong time.If anything changes, I will definitely update this post... otherwise, I am absolutely satisfied for the first time ever with a pencil sharpener.

I needed a new pencil sharpener and wanted a hand crank model, but thought maybe electric or battery powered one would be easier to deal with. So, I ended up getting this one here. It's easy to use after you insert the 4 "AA" batteries [not included] or USB cable [included]. This sharpener does not sharpen my pencils very sharp...until you actually have to rotate the pencil some while it's being sharpened to get it sharp. It did not indicate that in the instructions & I found this out by mistake. Easy to dump bin for pencil shavings. I think there are better pencil sharpeners out there, but for the money, this one is just fine and will do the job alright with some effort.

My department has used up its supply budget for the year and my pencil sharpeners were broken, so I decided to invest a little personal money in one to get me through the rest of the year but didn't want to pay the big bucks for a nice one. This sharpener was smaller than I expected it to be...I can see why other reviewers said it was a good backpack sharpener now! It works great with regular pencils. However, the product description specifically says that it does work with colored pencils and I did not find that to be the case. I tried with 4 or 5 regular Crayola colored pencils that had already been sharpened before but didn't have a point. 3 of them broke off in the sharpener, and one sharpened somewhat but the wood of the pencil cracked. This is using battery power; I have not yet tested using the USB cable, though I will update this review if I find the results to be different depending on the power source. Ultimately, fine for the price, and much less time consuming than hand sharpeners, but not everything it's cracked up to be.

it works, but only barely. Have tried replacing batteries over and over to get more power, but this thing just can't seem to sharpen a pencil anymore after a week or so of use.4/15/16 - I'm updating this based on support by the supplier. This is one of the most concerned suppliers I've ever dealt with. When they saw my negative review they called me and sent me a new sharpener. They also relayed there was a spare blade in the device. With their input I found it, I wondered what the small screwdriver was for. The blade is almost too small to be believed. I was able to change it out and my original sharpener worked fine again. When the new device came I tried this one out as well. It works, but really only with the USB power cord. Unfortunately I could not close the battery compartment. I tried both bottom panels on my first sharpener and they both worked fine. I then tried both panels on the new sharpener and neither can hold batteries in place, they immediately drop out if the sharpener is picked up and you have to slide it onto the table to keep it closed. Had the second one worked properly I would have rated this a 4 however the need for quick changeout of blade on first one (obviously a known issue since a replacement blade and screwdriver is sent with every device) combined with the defect on the second device necessitates a lower rating. This vendor is one of the best I've worked with and is generally concerned about customer experiences.

From the picture I could not tell how small this sharpener is. It is tiny! (you can see by the picture how small it is when sitting next to a sharpie marker) It requires 4 double A batteries unless you plug it in. The plug that comes with the sharpener is a USB cord so I have to have it by my computer or purchase an adapter. The door that you remove to empty shavings is very flimsy and you must bring the sharpener to the trash can because it is just a door, not an actual tray that holds the shavings. The sharpener itself does a nice job, so far. I was just not expecting it to be so small. I wanted it for my classroom and the description led me to believe it would be good for that. It would be fine as a home sharpener, but not one for a classroom of 20 8 year olds.

I don't understand how this sharpener has like a 4.5 star review. It is small and compact and can be operated by battery or by plugging into a USB port which is nice. However, it doesn't get my colored pencils nearly as sharp as I was expecting. I have used on various different brands as well. I have yet to get a good point. It does sharpen, but not enough. Comes with an extra blade for when the current goes dull - perhaps I need to try this now.

Recently picked up this sharpener to use with some colored pencils. Here are some pros & cons that i've found:PROS:+ Great small size, takes up very little space on the desk or in your bag+ Does a great job at sharpening regular pencils or colored pencils that aren't too soft+ Large container to hold lots of shavings+ Great price for an electric sharpenerCONS:- Pencils tend to wobble a bit when being sharpened making this not the best sharpener for softer or weak pencils. Tends to break weak pencils consistently.- The container for shavings isn't self contained, if you open it shavings will go everywhere so just open it over a garbage canOverall this is a very good sharpener for the money. If you are looking for a compact pencil sharpener for regular pencils this should do a great job for you.I was provided this product in exchange for my honest review.

I purchased this sharpener in August 2014 and it died October 2016. While it worked, it sharpened quickly and without mess. This was used a couple of times a week for two years by our family of four, nothing excessive, but then just stopped working for no apparent reason. I believe there also is supposed to be an automatic shutoff that kicks in once a pencil is fully sharpened, but that feature never worked for us –it only shut off when the pencil was manually removed. I'm not sure this sharpener will work for long if used in a classroom setting. Spent a bit more on this one hoping it would last, but the few extra bucks didn't help.

I have purchased two of these units over 6 months (one for the office and one for home use.) Both have the exact same issue: they don't sharpen the pencil evenly. This is not a deal breaker to me, just an annoyance.Additionally I find that these sharpeners cut the pencil at a shallow angle which causes the pencil point to be very fine or sharp. This causes the graphite to crumble when using the pencil unless one is extremely gentle. Again, not a deal breaker.Otherwise these sharpeners are solid-feeling, and have a powerful motor which sharpens a pencil in about 2 seconds. So far mine are working fine and I have no complaints about reliability.

I bought this to sharpen my color pencils after looking at a review online. It does work well, but not as well as I wanted it to. It does exactly what I expected (and was afraid of), it sharpens well enough, but it does seem to "eat" a lot of your pencil. Now, don't get me wrong: MOST of the electric sharpeners will do exactly that. The problem is that I use a lot of expensive pencils and I just had to be careful not to "over sharpen them" and lose all of that money. Anyway, the sharpener does well, it is a little tight for the watercolor pencils from Derwent, but it works GREAT with Polychromes from Faber-Castell.I have a feeling that it will depend on my budget on how much I use the sharpener or not.In the picture, the two pencils to the left: Derwent Inktense and Faber-Castell polychromes were sharpened with the electric sharpener. The one on the right was done with a hand-held sharpener.

I give this a 5 star for sharpening regular pencils and Prismacolor Colored Pencils. But and it's a big but no other pencils fit into this machine. That's why its a 3. None of the other common color pencils fit and some are just a hair bigger. I would've thought there would be some wiggle room for those that are a little bigger. The best sharpener is a hand sharpener with and adjustable head, but takes too much time when working.This is a good brand, and sharpens to a super point, just look for one you can put different sizes in if you need it. My mistake!

I bought this because we were using hand-turn sharpeners that seemed to only sharpen one side of the pencil and the other would have the wood down to the tip. While this doesn't do that exactly, it doesn't create an even cut of wood around the tip like I thought it would for the price. Also, it only has 1 size at the top so only "regular" pencils fit. We have some "fatter" pencils for my young son that I still have to use the hand sharpener for.

Awesome unit, heavy weight, sturdy, sharp and effective, a lot of sharpener for the money. Cannot believe they would put all the effort into such a decent unit and then fall so short on the shavings container door locking mechanism. The shavings door pops open as soon as you begin sharpening. As soon as the door opens, the safety mechanism stops the motor. Very annoying, could have used a bit of QA testing.Improve the door locking tab design and to me this is a perfect unit. It sucks my brand new opener has a thick rubber band keeping the door shut during operation. Deciding if it's worth the hassle to return or keep and deal with it. Consider this before you buy it for yourself.

I was impressed by the price of this sharpener considering it was electric and had good reviews.I bought it for my boys ,one who is in 1st grade.Its small and did the job.It sharpen as well as any other sharpener I've used but it was fine.It had a weird noise while it sharpened.so it definitely was useful until today.(4-26-2016) It stopped working.Even with the cord.I empited out the shaving.I used another wall outlet and nothing.I ordered this back in February.

I'm impressed. I wrote a negative review Below). Was called by Top Quality Art Supplies. They had a bad batch and I rec'd one. Within a week a had a brand new sharpener which works. That's service!!!After 2 weeks it stopped sharpening pencils to a point.I've tried everything (cleaning it out, taking the blade out) and I only get a "dull" point.I'm disappointed. I need a razor sharp point every time.Will you replace it or do I need to put it in the trash and try someone else?

What a piece of junk! I usually don't give items that I order such a harsh review but this time I am making an exception! I could gnaw the pencils to a point better than this thing! It's also difficult to get the front off to empty shavings (seriously, what shavings?) and I fiddled with it for five minutes before the cover fit back on again. And they give you this stupid screwdriver so that you can fiddle around with this some more in order to change the blade. Seriously? I wouldn't bother! It would take more time and effort than this piece of garbage is worth! People who claim here that this is "awesome" and "the best pencil sharpener ever" must have been using old sandpaper to sharpen pencils prior to using this. Seriously. I suppose if you only sharpen one pencil a week then it might suit your needs, but for multiple pencils that you need at some point in this lifetime, not so much.

Pure crap for the money. Cheap Chinese plastic. This thing is teeny tiny {fits in palm of your hand} and looks and feels like one of those "free" gifts you get for sitting in a hellish 3 hour Time Share presentation. It sharpens SOME pencils. This sharpener cannot handle pencils that have images or designs printed on them as it just grinds and grinds but cannot produce a point. Do yourself a favor and spend the extra $10 or so and get the hand cranked gear sharpener.

barely sharpens..U have to hold pencil down very firmley to sharpen..sharpens sometimes sometimes id doesn't. low quality..took a week to be delivered by UPS.I have prime..will probably send back..not worth 10.00. usb charge does not work..24 hrs..still not sharp.

I wanted to like it based on the reviews, however, within a week the pencil sharpener started to make this awful whine noise while sharpening. It also does not seem to sharpen consistently. I get a great point one time, then broken pencils, or one-sided sharpening the next. It is also very small, which I actually initially liked because I wanted something compact, however, it feels somewhat flimsy, and cheaply constructed. I continually got the sense that it was just a matter of time before it something would break. The final straw was when the battery door broke last night.

Have had this two years but only used sporadically, which I imagine is pretty typical. A week ago it stopped working, the mechanism still turns so nothing is jammed but it just doesn't work.

Worked really well all year (I teach 1st grade) and now with only two months left to go it's dead :( I am the only one that uses it, not the kids, so I know it wasn't user error. Bummed.

I bought it for my colored pencils based on positive reviews I read here. I find that it eats pencils and sharpens unevenly .Update: I have completely stopped using this sharpener due to excessive and uneven cut. I purchased it based on positive reviews on this website.I do not recommend this sharpener for colored pencil art. A simple Alvin bullet hand held sharpener is much better and cheaper.

I purchased this sharpener for use in a school library. I bought it in June in time for finals, then it was used just this school year. It has already died. My engineer-mechanic husband took it apart to see if he could fix it, but no luck.

It has some nice features--gets the pencil really sharp, holds lots of shavings and doesn't take up much room--but it is totally annoying since the point on the pencil isn't centered. I've rotated the pencils every which way and tried lots of different pencils. The results are always off the same way. It is far enough off that sometimes the pencil wood sticks out beyond the graphite.I wrote the company. They got right back to me. They let me know that the centering isn't adjustable and I should just send it back either for a refund or an exchange. They say that most are centered just right.It is hard to invest much time in a $20 sharpener. I'm going to try one from someone else.I won't say "Don't buy it." I hope you are luckier than I was.

I had high hopes for this sharpener despite a few concerning reviews. How a company builds a nice sharpener in every way except how good it sharpens is beyond me. We tried 3 different pencils and got the exact results on each one. It would sharpen one side of the pencil really good - but the otherside is all wood. Therefore, you have to turn the pencil by hand to try to get all sides sharpened. The result is you waste a lot of pencil trying to get a good cut. Horrific quality control I guess. One review I read complained about that the sharpener is extremely loud. This is true as well. I initiated a return within about 10 minutes of opening it up.

Purchased this for light home use for my son's homeschooling. It worked ok at first, not wonderfully powerful but got the job done good enough for a six year old to use for his school work. It has seen light use and now, after nine months, it stopped working. I would not recommend this at all. It was a waste of money. I just purchased a different brand for $15 on sale (regularly $18) and so far it is much more powerful and gets the pencils nice and sharp. We will see if it holds up better than this one. If it doesn't, I'm starting to think a nice manual sharpener might be the way to go.

This sharpener is AWFUL. They are right. It is the No.1 seller just because it is CHEAP. Specifically, my every pencil got stuck inside and break their tips. You know what, it is EVERYTIME. Besides, my pencil became shorter and shorter even though I just put it into the sharpener for few seconds. Actually, it is not bad for the regular pencil. However, as for the colored pencils, it is just a disaster. The sharpener cannot sharpen my colored pencil at all. Moreover, this teeny tiny sharpener occurred a large sound while using it, which is so annoying. I am wondering why so many people are satisfied with this purchase. For me, this experience is BAD, EXTREMELY BAD. Guys, please, don not buy it. Or you would stare at the computer screen and type a bunch of disappointing words with anger just like what I am doing now. Thanks for reading.

AWFUL! Absolutley the worst pencil sharpner I have ever bought! I bought it because the reviews were so good. I'm having the opposite experience. It worked ok when we first got it, now it just chews pencils and snaps the lead. If your lucky to get the pencil sharpened it's so pointy and brittle that it breaks. If I could of given no stars or negative stars I would have. Throwing it out

I cannot get this to work. Almost every time a pencil is sharpened, the tip snaps off and gets stuck in the blade. Then I have to take off the cover, knock the graphite out, and try again. I've started with several unsharpened pencils, and repeated this process until the pencil was a 2" nub before I could actually use it. I've tried several different brands and types of pencils and all of them have had the same issue, so I don't think they are the problem.

After all of the positive reviews, I figured I would buy it. I do like the fact that it can be powered by USB. It is noisey, but it is for home use, so who cares. The biggest issue is that it does not do a good job sharpening. It has literally eaten several pencils. I have tried holding the pencil lighter, but then it just spins in circles, so you have to hold it in pretty hard. When you do, it warbles and then the pencil gets torn up. I have had it get a nice point and then the led falls out!It is nice and compact and is easy to empty, so I will give it that.I used to have manual one and we did not have these problems. I wish that it worked better because we really need a good sharpener. I think I will return this and get a more expensive one. I guess you get what you paid for! Also pretty annoyed that 3 days after I receive the item, it goes down by $2. But I guess it doesn't matter, as it is getting returned.

I opened this as soon as I received because my son has so many unsharpened pencils at home. I was so excited, but very disappointed. I tried to sharpen one of his new Halloween pencils and the shavings got all caught up in the blade and it wouldn't even continue to turn. I had to clean out the compartment and clear out the blade twice before it would sharpen one pencil. I am sending back.

Reviews on Amazon generally can be trusted, so I have to think I got a defective model. Well, obviously I did. Right out of the box, the sharpener made buzzing sound with a pencil inserted, but nothing moved. Some shaking, prodding and pencil twerking finally produced some action -- but the results weren't great. One -- it kept stalling. The pencils came out one-sided. The shavings container wouldn't stay in place. So this one goes back...

I purchased this electric pencil sharpener in Oct. 2015. It worked for 8 months, and now it doesn't work at all. I don't usually write reviews, but I work at a church and it doesn't get used very often. Very sad that I have to go purchase another one and waste more money. I had read all the good reviews, I assumed I would get a longer life out of it. Things are not made the way they use to be.

Was great for about 5 weeks and now is just awful. Won't sharpen anything. VERY disappointed. Other teachers in the school have this and it's worked fine for them for a long time. I must have gotten a lemon and it went bad right after the return window :( Would be nice if they'd still replace...

I ordered this as a Christmas gift for my daughter. After just over a month of limited use it no longer works. I just checked to see if I could return it and I am not able to. Very disappointed for the money I spent.

Disappointingly, this sharpener did not live up to the many 5 star reviews it received. It was extremely noisy. The pencils barely fit into the opening -- hexagonal pencils (as opposed to round) had to be put in just right for the sharpener to accept them. There is only one choice regarding size of the opening, so there was no way to work around it. The sharpener started grinding away loudly the second I put the pencil in (before it got anywhere near the blade)and took forever to sharpen a new (unsharpened) pencil. Saving the worst for last, the pencils had very little lead showing (mostly wood), and often had wood coming all the way down to the tip on one side, so the pencil was unusable. I returned this product and am still shopping for a better one.

I bought this item because of the great reviews. It worked very well for a month until it broke. There is nothing jammed in there and the container is empty. I'm a teacher and I am very upset that I have to spend my own money on another pencil sharpener. Very disappointed.