my fabulous black & decker i bought for $12 at wally world has lasted for 4 years now...stays hot and works great...i never ever put water in an iron...i keep a spray bottle of water on the end of my ironing board. i found that it does not matter if you spend $12 or $159 on your iron, if you put water in it it will start spitting and sputtering at you in a very short period of time. i like my iron to stay hot and it does-for hours and hours some days...and no problems...best $12 i ever spent