Got this heating pad about a week ago, so I can't comment on durability, but functionality-wise, it's great. Once in a while I need to sleep on a heating pad because of back pain. With other heating pads, the heat shuts off after a couple of hours and they need to be restarted; some of them won't turn back on right away. This one never shuts off - in one respect it worries me that I might forget to turn it off before I go to work. That's the thing I love about it, though, so it's a trade-off. I keep it set on low and it never gets too hot, and the cover is nice and soft. BTW, it's not advisable to let a child use a heating pad of any sort, unattended.

Like many of the other reviewers, I found that this heating pad only stays hot for about 3 minutes before the heat automatically turns itself down. The only thing I could do was turn it off and then on again, but I never felt like it got as hot as the first time.Also, it has a really strong plastic-y smell that rubs off on whatever you've been using the pad on - in my case, my wrist/arm. This is going back!

I'm from the "old school" I guess, I want value for my money.Amazon reviews are usually close to the truth which is why I bought this instead of a higher priced item. Maybe these are new offerings, not the older models which actually worked well. Whatever the case, I bought one offline and one in a store--both failed miserably...did not maintain a high heat--think they both had a HIGH heat twice, and that's it. Failed to maintain the heat and most of the time, LOW heat was all you got, even though the heating pad setting was on HIGH.Save you time and energy and just go for a higher priced heating pad like Battle Creek, Thermophore or something else. I'm trying BodyMed which is in the $40 price range...will let you know when I receive it.

I love using this heating pad it warms me when the heat is off and I'm cold. I am sitting on it right now its starting to warm up I think I will fall asleep on it because its 7:17a.m. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

This certainly does not get as hot as the vintage model heating pads, but it gets the job done. It does seem to get hot and stay hot for several minutes, and then go through a short "cool-down" cycle, before getting hot again. That feature can be a little annoying, but I'm sure it's there as a safeguard.The outer blue cloth pad is soft and comfortable to use, even on bare skin. The electric cord is long, and the dial is easy to use and read.

Good heat controls, works great and is well worth the price. If you suffer from aching joints or have rotator cuff problems, use this to alleviate the pain.