Well, it's hard to put this in a nutshell. The knife geeks will, almost to a one, tell you to invest in some good whet stones and learn to sharpen knives that way. If you are not interested in doing all that, and you are not purchasing Hattoris or Carters or some other work-of-art cutting implement, then I think the 120 should be satisfactory. I have used the 110 (a long time ago), and the Commercial 2000, which does not have the fine stropping discs. Beware that these are not set up for Japanese knives, which have very acute edge angles, say 15-18 degrees. The German ones are 20-25. Also, you can find online free videos about how to use the electric sharpener, but I cannot recall the website--maybe Knife Merchant? If you are not attached to angles finer than the usual ones put on the German knives like Henckels and Wusthof, then check out the 120. Also, call Williams-Sonoma or Sur La Table or a similar store and ask people there what their experience is and whether they will demonstrate the use of an electric sharpener. I use the 2000 on some of my knives and finish up with a stone. For my Japanese ones, I only use the stones. There is a knife forum, called "Knife Forum," astonishingly. Those folks know everything about knives and sharpening; many are professional chefs.

I could probably learn to sharpen with a stone - I've learned to sharpen medical instruments that way. Seems that would be more economical. Maybe I need to find a knife store and check out all the options.

If you have sharpened medical instruments that way, sharpening kitchen knives that way should be no problem. Good stones are expensive, however. There are several websites that demonstrate sharpening techniques using stones. Check out "Knife Forum" and "egullett."

Here is a link that might be useful: One e Gullett article

Gibby,

Invest in a $30 to $50 Lanskey sharpening set.

It uses a sharpening guide to set and hold the angle.

As I've gotten older I've found holding the angle by hand and eye is nearly impossible, so the Lanskey set was a god send.

FWIW, Cook's Illustrated came in the mail yesterday, coincidentally. It rated electric and manual knife sharpeners. The only sharpener it gave a "highly recommended" rating was the Chef's Choice 130. The 120 received a "recommended." The Spyderco system recommended by many knife hobbyists received a "recommended with reservations." The Lansky received a "not recommended." Interestingly, both the Spyderco and the Lansky are used by many people on knife forums, so I am not sure how much one would want to make of the Cook's assessment.

Here's an interesting site. The guy likes the 120.

I have bought a set of paper wheels but haven't had a chance to set them up yet and try them out.

Here is a link that might be useful: sharpening site