I love mine so much that I bought a second one (the 3 quart mini) for our camper. For me, it's worth it just for the simplicity and speed of cooking dry pinto beans, hard-boiled eggs, mashed potatoes, and roasts. Just plop the food in, set the number of minutes, and walk away.
I use the slow cooker function often, too. The other features are "gravy". For example, I've never used the yogurt function, but it's there if I decide to try it sometime (and I probably will).
I definitely don't consider it to be a fad. In fact, if it ever breaks, I'll have another one ordered that same day.
Some people mention that they're intimidated by it. I was, a little, at first, but after doing the "water test" and seeing what to expect, I quickly became comfortable with it. My grandmother's pressure cooker was the stove-top kind, and it was
so terrifying to a little kid. I avoided her kitchen whenever she had it going, because there was
no doubt in my mind that it was going to explode!
It never did, but boy was it scary! ha ha