Hmm.... not sure how I got Martha's quote up there without my comment.
The auto shut off is for people like me and I hardly ever iron clothes. I walked past my ironing board one day and my iron was hot and I had not been sewing for about 3 days. that is why I wouldn't have anything else. I recently bought a Hamilton Beach that I really like. It is a 3 way auto shut off. It has three large buttons on the side that light up,low medium and high and an off button. The light flashes while it is heating, It beeps once when it reaches the right temp, it beeps 3 times when it is going to shut off and the light flashes till you pick it up and it starts to heat again. I don't get any surprizes when it has shut off. I really hope it lasts, this is the second one the first one I bought never got hot enough. I liked the features so much I took it back for another of the same.