First off, let me tell you that previously, I was using a revlon 1 inch ceramic flat iron. I blow dry my hair before using a flat iron, because 1.) I've been doing that for year, and 2.) I used this on my curly hair, and while my hair was straight, it wasn't as good as when I was blow drying. Anyway, I have a mix of african american hair, so some curls are looser, some are really curly. After blow drying, my hair is big, magor volume. I use my tresemme heat tamer spray, and my haor is so nice when I'm done!!! It still takes me forever to finish, like 2 hours, but I think its becausee my hair is so huge after blow drying. Plus, when I flat iron, I watch t.v, I take breaks, etc. Its boring flat ironing so I have to keep myself entertained. It takes me 5 passes to get my sllek look, but that's ok. This is a great product. My hair is hot after, which is how I know it gets hot. My hair is so soft, bouncy, and just good looking when I use this. It was $19.00 at walmart. It has automatic 1 hour shut off, so if it starts to cool down, make sure its not because of the shut off. All in all, this is a great product that I love.
**Edit** I was able to straighten my hair in like an hour and 10 minutes. Me, I was ble to!!!! I used a hot olive oil treatment, which I wasn't able to rinse out all the way, and I know this contributed to me being able to finish so quickly. But it deppends on how poofy your hair is. My hair literally felt like silk whn I was done because of the evoo. So, I love my andis even more now. It is amazing.