Side by Side Comparison of: Desert Song vs Faber-Castell vs Global Art Materials vs Prismacolor vs Derwent

My regular plugin type would overheat after about 5 pencils and stop. After many years the main gear broke. Looked around for something that runs on battery, but most seemed under powered or looked like a manual sharpener on a spinner. There are other's that look alike, but this one had plenty good reviews and I went for it.Reasons for 5stars:-Nice high output adapter is 1.5A. Though it's 6V, it may be able to power other protected USB devices.-Multiple settings can be set in between the 3 options given, and you don't have to push down much.-The sharpest is finer than needle point. Which can be dangerous. Adjust down if needed.-The timing estimated is false. You can sharpen in 3 seconds...-Sharpens OLD, and I mean OLD, pencils where the point would immediately break if using a manual sharpener. Only a helical cutter would sharpen these.-Can be powered by anything USB-5V including your TV. The ports on laptops are generally 5V@500mA so it runs a little slower, but still does the job if not pressured too much.-The battery compartment is not used in my setup, but is a handy capability if needed.-Clear shaving bin comes off and goes on easily.-Packaging is a nice storage case.-Great price compared to plugins.-I wouldn't say "quiet". More like "quieter".-Nice rounded feel and sized well. Total size, with adapter and wire, in the case takes up half the foot print of my old junked plugin type.-Plenty colours to choose from.My only concern is the plastic ring gear, but other from that it's good under normal use.

works as advertised. watch yourself, one can overdo the sharpening. ***UPDATE 1/8/16. I'm finding that I have to hold more tightly onto any colored pencil having an off -center core. The sharpened points are perfect for writing and for coloring tiny areas.I'm able to get great color from my Sargent Art pencils in my new Johanna Brasford coloring book!would recommend using ac/dc cord unless necessary to remove.would NOT recommend for a classroom of children under the age of 14.would like to have the option of removing/replacing sharpening blade.

This product has been a life-saver for my family, me, and my hands! With three kids, we are constantly trying to find a sharpened pencil to get homework done or to color with colored pencils. Usually if we find a pencil, we can never find our small manual sharpener. It's. A. Pain. I was the first, and probably most excited, to use this new electric sharpener when it arrived. It comes with a USB cable, that can plug into a computer, or into the AC adapter that is included. It also takes batteries, so very portable. (We haven't tried sharpening while using battery power, but I'm sure it's just as effective). It has three sharpening settings: blunt, semi-sharp, and sharp. I like mine sharp! But for the boys I usually use blunt so the point doesn't break as easily. Once powered, you just stick the pencil in the opening, and within seconds you have a perfectly sharpened pencil. You can actually hear when it's done sharpening, although the blade will continue to run. One of the things I love most about this sharpener, besides it's compactness and ease of use, is the safety feature which prohibits the blade from working if the cover is off (like when you need to discard the shavings). This is a great feature for my family with two toddlers who are constantly trying to be "big boys", and could really hurt themselves if they figured out how to get the cover off! Overall, this was a great purchase!

One of the problems that comes with using colored pencils is finding good pencil sharpeners. One writer said to always have TWO- one electric and one battery operated. They also noted you would need two because one would ALWAYS break down just when you are in the middle of doing something. How true! This little machine has handled both my Prismacolor AND my Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils with outstanding results. The points are needle-sharp AND it allows me to use either the batteries or the AC adapter. It may NOT be able to handle some of the thicker pencils (I haven't tried them yet), and I am certain it WILL break down at some time. But, for now, given its price and outstanding results I am well pleased with this little machine. Oh, and I sharpen my pencils once a minute, as instructed by a teacher, so it's getting a workout. To prolong its life I always put through a few graphite pencils each day to clean out the wax/oil pigments.

I absolutely love this sharpener. I recently got into adult coloring and watercolor pencil art. Have spent far too much money on sharpeners that did not live up to expectations. This is the best sharpener around for coloring pencils, watercolor pencils, etc.

My grandkids love it. Let me tell you, they are very into coloring pencils and sketching. The sharpener gets a workout and keeps on going. I like that you can vary the sharpness. That feature actually does work. Also the sharpener will not mindlessly grind the pencil down to a nub. When the pencil is sharp it stops grinding.It does not eat batteries which is another nice feature. The shavings cup is fiddly to get off but if you train the child to hold the sharpener well into the trash can while opening it there should be no disasters.Of course this sharpener works just as well when an adult uses it. It gets the pencil sharpened as evenly as on hundred dollar sharpeners and, believe me, I have tried them. It is not perfect, but it is as good as the best and better than most.

Fast and makes a very sharp point for my coloured pencils. But it is definately not quiet. That's the reason I didn't give it 5 starts

Use for sharpening colored pencils for coloring. Very good quality, compact size. The Sharp setting isn't as a sharp point as I'd like, but it could the the colored pencils I'm using.

It's nothing out of the ordinary. It does the job and doesn't take up a lot of room.

Bought to sharpen colored pencils for Adult Coloring Books.

Sharpener works well. Larger colored pencils do not fit in hole however (they did in my old Costco sharpener). Standard size pencils are no problem.

Nice and portable. I am using it at home as well as for Sunday school. I recommend this product.

Does NOT sharpen in 3 lengths as advertised. Broke some pencils by sharpening too fast. Love the color but the sharpener is not doing what it's supposed to.

Stopped working the same day I got it. did great while it worked. Will return and give a 2nd chance.

I am a teacher. This lasted 4 months in my classroom. Disappointed.

Not exactly quiet but works well.

It's a good sharpener but not a great one and it's definitely NOT quiet for the classroom. But it serves its purpose.

Good product. Not as quiet as I hoped. But works.

I bought one Desert Song Pencil Sharpener in black, which lasted a couple weeks until one of my students knocked it off the shelf and broke it. Because the sharpener seemed to work quite well, I ordered a second one in blue. This sharpener has been much weaker than the first one almost from the start. The blue desert song sharpener doesn't sharpen pencils evenly. Lead breaks off easily and quickly IN the sharpener, so that if I go to sharpen several pencils, most inadvertently come out dull because the sharpener already has lead in the tip. I have been extremely disappointed because the first one seemed so super.As a positive, and the reason that this isn't 1 star, is that the Desert Song will sharpen colored pencils quite well. However, as a day-to-day sharpener, this model falls flat.

It was working fine like advertised for the first three months and then it stopped working. Somehow we managed to make it work, but it always stops halfway and never finishes sharpening the pencil. You have to take the pencil out and back in for it to rotate again, but just for a little bit. Then you have to do it again and again until the pencil is sharpened...It literally drives me crazy! I would not recommend it to others.

I sharpened 32 pencils and then it wouldn't sharpen again. When putting the pencil in it would break off the point that was already there. Returned.

I bought this pencil sharpener for my colored pencils based on the reviews. I only used it several times and then due to my busy schedule couldn't use my pencils for at least 6 months. When I went to use the sharpener again it wouldn't work at all! VERY DISAPPOINTED as it was stored in an area that was safe and there was nothing done to it for it to just quit working.

I'm quite disappointed in this product. It worked a few times. I bought this in January and now it's July, it worked a couple of weeks ago and suddenly a few days ago and again today I tried to plug it in and use it, and it would not work. I know the outlet is working fine and I tried multiple outlets that I use on a daily basis that work fine, but the sharpener no longer works. I've only used it a handful of times, I can count how many times on one hand, that's how little I used it since purchasing the sharpener. It didn't even sharpen a blunt too when I wanted it to, it was always sharp, but I kept it anyway, because it still worked...it no longer works after 5 times of use in 6 months, so I'm very disappointed in this product.

I am a teacher. I purchased this for my class based on all of the positive reviews. I saved it to use for testing week. On day 1, I sharpened 1 pencil. On day 2, I sharpened 18 pencils. On day 3 (today), I cannot sharpen ANY pencils. It is not the electric outlet (I tried 2 others). It is not because it is open (housing is completely sealed). So, it is either defective or just a poorly made sharpener. I do not recommend this product and will be returning it.

was missing parts and didnt work. had to trash it

We bought this product for an elementary school and it did not even last one week before the motor burned out. Very disappointing since it says it's is a high powered motor specifically for colored pencils.

This pencil sharpener does not sharpen pencil at all. It does not matter what level I set.