Rowenta Pro Master Stainless Steel Soleplate Steam Iron for Clothes 400 Microsteam Holes, Cotton, Wool, Poly, Silk, Linen, Nylon 1700 Watts Ironing, Fabric Steamer, Powerful, Auto-Off DW8080

TL:DR Summary -- I broke my Rowenta DZ5080 by dropping it. Loved that iron, wanted an exact or better (if even possible) replacement. Initially bought the more expensive Rowenta DW9080 because it was top of the line. Did not like it at all, returned it to Amazon and bought this Rowenta DW8080 instead and LOVE it, find that it performs just the same as the DZ5080 did. The DW9080 had inconsistent steam production, delay in producing steam, would not truly "auto" steam, and when the steam finally decided to start coming out it was not any more than the DZ5080 or DW8080. I would not recommend the DW9080 to anyone, but would recommend the DW8080 to everyone. If you have only ever used cheap irons, you'll honestly be blown away by what you're missing with an iron like the DW8080. It has awesome, immediately, consistent, plentiful steam production, and a great design to hold and use. Buy it!!Long version...A little background... I had always used the cheap walmart irons that everyone is used to. Never enough steam so constantly pressing the burst button, takes forever to iron things, might not get all the wrinkles out entirely, etc. Honestly, I didn't know what I was missing until we registered for and received a Rowenta Focus DZ5080 iron for our wedding. I was immediately blown away by how much steam came out effortlessly and how quickly and effectively it could iron. I actually enjoyed and looked forward to ironing, even a couple years after initially receiving it. It wasn't as annoying/daunting of a task.Fast foward to a few weeks ago, when I accidentally bumped the ironing board and knocked our DZ5080 onto our concrete laundry room floor and cracked the water tank, rendering it unusable. I was very upset because I loved that iron, and immediately went to Amazon to order the exact same model. What I learned is that that model was discontinued and replaced with the DW5080. It might sound silly, but I didn't like the color of the DW5080 (ugly brown instead of blue) so I didn't immediately order it and decided to see what other offerings Rowenta had. (If I had seen the DZ5080 still for sale I'd have ordered it immediately with zero extra research). After searching around, I ordered the DW9080 hoping it would be like our DZ5080 only even better, because after all it had 30% more steam. After the first day, I did not like the iron one bit and immediately ordered this DW8080 instead, which I absolutely love again, just like our DZ5080 (it performs very similarly to how the DZ5080 did, suppoedly has more "burst" of steam when you burst it, but I don't really use that function much and the eyeball test says the difference isn't dramatic). See my DW9080 review if you would like more information on why I did not like that iron.What I love about the DW8080 is that immediately after lowering the iron, by the time you touch it to your clothing, it is produces it's full amount of steam, which is honsetly a lot. The entire surface of the iron produces steam evenly, and it is enough to iron extremely quickly. What used to take 10 passes with a cheap walmart iron literally is done in one pass with this iron, no matter how wrinkled the clothing is. I've had some clothing that somehow dried all balled up and was a terrible wrinkled mess that, to be honest, would not have ironed out perfectly with my previous irons no matter how long I spent with it. But with the DZ5080 and now this DW8080, it not only irons it out perfectly, but in only a pass or two. It's amazing what this amount of steam does to set-in wrinkles. I never would have believed it or expected it if not for trying it myself. I think it warrants mention that I have never had an issue where it is leaking water either from the steam holes, the water fillup hole, or anywhere else.So, long story short, I absolutely love this iron and would recommend it to everyone without hesitation. That being said, there are a few annoyances I have with this model that I will mention here:-Probably the biggest one, and it's not THAT big of a deal, is that it is hard to see the level of the water because the back face is a dark plastic that is not very translucent. I have to really hold it up to the light to see where the water is at. With the DZ5080 before this, it was a lighter colored plastic that allowed me to see the water level from across the room. Not a dealbreaker, but it's annoying and there is no reason for it IMHO.-This happened with my DZ5080 also, but what happens is if you set the temp of the iron too high for your clothing, it would make the face of the iron instantly melt the fuzz on the surface of the clothing (VERY slightly, not NEARLY enough to ruin the clothes AT ALL, but) enough to have a few tiny fibers stick to the face of the iron. Before I go on, let me be clear that what seems to be happening is that that fuzz that sort of "sticks out" of the clothing, is what melts -- the clothing itself is not damaged in any way. Anyway, what this does when it happens is it makes the iron not glide as smoothly, making it more difficult to iron because the iron kind of feels "sticky" in a way, and wants to pull the clothing around instead of glide over it. To further emphasize that this isn't that big of a deal, the first time it happened I actually didn't even really notice and continued using it for a few months. Eventually I came to think it wasn't gliding as smoothly as it did and invesigated it a bit more. I see now that they make special sole plate cleaner which I may try with my DW8080, but with the DZ5080 all I did was keep a small piece of 0000 steel wool near the iron boarding and periodically would clean the sole plate with it if it happened. This worked great and would remove the melted on fibers quickly and easily and more importantly, could be done while the iron is hot (if you're careful), which allows uninterrupted ironing if you accidentally set the iron too hot and have this issue. It was only with very particular shirts of mine, so it must be the particular fabric they are made of, because 99% of items, I could set the iron above the recommended temp and use it on them even though you're not supposed to, but on this particular brand/fabric of shirt, it would have this issue if I set it too hot (where it melted the invisible fuzzies that are on the surface of the fabric). But ultimately, if you don't set your iron too hot for your clothing, and you won't have this issue.At the end of the day, I highly recommend this iron and believe anyone would be thrilled with it. There *might* be better irons out there somewhere, but I can't imagine in what ways they would be much better, and after taking a risk even within the same company to get a "better" iron and getting burned, I'm quite happy to stay with this tried and true iron.

Getting right to the point: This is a high quality iron that you will not be disappointed with. Those words aren't really strong enough. If you are have come to appreciate that good quality equipment sometimes costs more money, this iron is for you.Full Review:Occasionally in life you use a product that you are expecting to be good, but you don't realize how good it can be until you use it. The Rowenta Pro Master DW 8800 is one of those products.It's an iron. Seriously. How much different can an iron be? They all get hot and take wrinkles out of clothes. This is almost a commodity now. Even so, there is a difference.I have historically ironed more than anyone in my house, and even today, though I pay one of my sons to iron for me, I still iron a considerable amount, especially when traveling for work. Because I often iron in hotels, I had almost seen the full gambit of irons, from basic irons with the most advanced feature being a spray nozzle that leaked to a "deluxe" hospitality iron that steamed, had an extra long cord, and even offered a headlamp to better see the wrinkles you were trying to remove.For the last couple of years our iron at home has been a most basic iron, but it has done the job. Even so, I have been looking to upgrade to one with a steam feature for some time. It is the one feature I miss when it is not available, as it really helps get the wrinkles out. A couple of weeks ago, someone touched some red plastic with the heated plate of our iron, and this pushed me to action. After looking at numerous irons and reading numerous reviews, I decided to follow an instinct I only began to appreciate in my late thirties: buy quality equipment. Quality in this case was the Rowenta Pro Master DW 8800.Rowenta seems to be an iron appreciate by professionals: laundry mats and the such. This is for good reason. My first reaction was nothing short of utter amazement! While it seemed to get hot faster that our other iron, that was not the feature that blew me away. It was the variable steam feature that steams your clothes automatically while ironing WITHOUT pressing a button. If you wish to steam vertically, perhaps curtains or even suit jackets, there is a button that produces serious bursts of steam.All of this was amazing to my gadget loving self, but it was not until I ironed my most difficult shirt this morning that I truly appreciated how amazing this iron is. This iron glides across my clothing like no other iron I have ever used. The constant steam feature easily removed wrinkles I have wrestled with on this particular shirt for minutes in the past. The "High Precision Tip", while not a big deal to me, did indeed allow me to get into certain spots on the shirt easier. As if this wasn't enough, the constant steam feature also allowed me to iron my pants in half the time. The steam pushing through my pants allowed me to be done ironing after only ironing one side of the pants. That sort of thing makes me seriously happy.All this said, the iron is comfortable to hold, and the weight of the iron speaks to its high quality. From what I have read, this isn't the same for all Rowenta irons, but those made in Germany posses a level of quality not seen in those made in China.It remains to be seen how well this holds up, but my first impression is a solid WOW. I am anxious to see how well the "Anti Calc" feature keeps the calcium buildup down, and I am anxious to see if the heated plate remains smooth after months of ironing, but for now, I am amazed.All these good points aside, I do wish the iron had a longer cord, but this is a small price to pay for the rest of the incredible features. I didn't measure the cord, but I suspect it is 7 feet long. I would have appreciated 10 feet, but again, this is a small complaint in comparison to the rest of the features.If you are in the market for a new iron, and if you don't mind spending more money to get a high quality iron, don't hesitate and purchase the Rowenta Pro Master DW 8800. You will not be disappointed. A solid 5/5 stars.