horseflesh

There's probably someone else out there thinking about buying this beast... I know I would have liked to see photos before I got mine. Enjoy. http://imgur.com/a/qgmwN Note that this is a special order that came without the printer. That shaved a good bit off the price, I was pleased. Send me a PM if you are interested in learning more about that.

One last update on my sealer saga... Big Tray is able to custom order the 35XP without the printer. I was pleased at the price, too. If that's interesting to you, contact help@bigtray.com for a quote.

Impurities would provide nucleation sites for tiny air bubbles, perhaps--but you didn't have any better luck with DI water. Interesting. Good luck with your quest!

Hi Soup, When I had a RO/DI water filter I found that my generic fridge made clear ice. It was not 100% clear, but it was vastly better than what I saw before I installed it. You can get a filter setup for something like $200 off Ebay, and put it inline with your existing icemaker water line. You may find that this does the job; if not at least you will have tasty ice and drinking water. I had originally installed the filter for the benefit of my reef aquarium, but the good ice and water was a nice side benefit.

After doing a lot of SV gear research, I decided to back this on Kickstarter instead of buying an existing solution, or making something myself. Like others I do not see the touchscreen of the Anova as a good feature. I want my SV appliance to be as simple as possible. I also don't want a rat's nest of wires, which is one of the reasons I decided to get an all-in-one immersion device like the Sainsaire instead of something like the SV Magic or Auber where you have several components to deal with. I am looking forward to getting the Sainsaire and I hope things stay on schedule.

I got the quote from Minipack for the 35XP minus the printer. It is a hefty discount, but direct sales don't begin with any discount off the MSRP, and there are shipping costs too, so the overall savings is not huge. I am not surprised, the manufacturer doesn't want to work against their resellers... This could still be a good option for some people though. I have permission to pass the sales agent's contact information on--please send me a PM if you would like that, or more details on the pricing.

Darn, I can't edit my above post. I ended up talking to Joe at Minipack. The differences between the 31X and 31XP are mirrored on the 35X and 35XP, which is what I expected. Joe was very helpful, and even mentioned that the 35XP is available without the printer as a custom order. I have an email out to another Minipacker and when I find out what the price is on that I will post a followup.

Hey Burke--can you tell me more about your 35X? It isn't I just exchanged some email with Big Tray. They told me that the manufacturer told them that the 35X and 35XP differ *only* in the printer. This would be UNLIKE the 31X to 31XP, where the XP adds more memories, the liquid instant stop, hot food program, infusion cycle, and some other changes. If the 35X does indeed have the liquid quick stop etc then I could get it instead of the 35XP, as I don't care about the printer. I suspect that the 35 models follow the 31 models' pattern, though.

I'm on the verge of deciding that I need the 35 instead of the 31 as well--same concerns, I want to buy it once and minimize compromise. What's another 10% cost at this point? However, I am definitely getting the XP model due to the hot foods program and other upgrades. You're right, that is a very good price on the 35x, especially when you factor in free shipping. I wonder if they can get the XP...

The gauge on front of the 215 seems to be marked in inches of mercury. Here's a table that lets you convert that unit to percent vacuum. http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/vacuum-converter-d_460.html If you find that blog post, please follow up.

Hi, I joined the forum for this thread. I'm seriously considering getting the MVS-31XP and this thread, though old now, is one of the best discussions I have seen on sealers of that class. If anyone has more to share on the 31XP or other chamber sealers in that price range I'd love to hear it. I want to be sure I make the right decision.