I just rec'd my Apex Edge Pro a week or so ago. It's fantastic. I've dabbled in stones, but have never really attempted to be successful at it. (Know what I mean??) I purchased a few Japanese knives in December and knew I would have to be able to maintain their sharp edges. I have Chef's choice and Wustoff pull thru sharpeners along with my Henkles steel that I've found I was just 'making due' with. (Henckles knives only!) All of my knives are now extremely sharp, as comparted to their previous state, and I take them to the 800 stone and then the ceramic hone. I haven't even opened the 3000g tapes yet, since I'm still learning. Anyway, it's almost fool proof. My Japanese knives are a little easier to sharpen than some of my my German knives since some of the German knives have deeper bellies, like my Henckles boning knife. Not that the EP doesn't do a fine job on them, it's just not 'as easy'. I'm pretty sure this will start another obsession, seeing that in addition to the dozen kitchen knives I have, I also have a collection of pocket and fixed blade hunting knives that's approaching 150 pieces. I lamented overspending $200 on the EP for about a month. Now that I have it, I wished I would have ordered it earlier.