I got a Black and Decker iron that I loved the weight/feel etc. It quit working after a month or so. I called the company and they replaced it. All I had to do was cut the plug off the old one and send a copy of my receipt. The new iron came in the mail a week or two later. In the meantime I liked it so well I went and bought another one. Now I have a backup. The customer service was great and I think the iron going on the fritz was a fluke. Only down thing about the iron is that to totally shut it off you have to unplug it otherwise it just goes into a sleep mode where it cools down but doesn't shut off.

I recently bought this iron, and love it. Have you ever had the sole plate leave a grayish mark on white fabric? I am now being careful to "press" and not iron my blocks to avoid this...especially with very light fabrics.

Whenever I'm in a thrift store I look at the irons. Right now I have two old General Electric irons and they work great! I paid $5 for each of them. They have steam, don't shut off, and heat more than the newer models. They also don't spit when the steam is on, though I seldom use steam.

I've had good and bad luck with regular sized Rowenta irons. The travel iron by Rowenta works like a dream for smaller projects, though. My steam generator was leaking water from the base and it would also splatter. It was sent back to the factory for repairs. It was a few months before I finally got a brand new replacement yesterday. I will be trying it out today. Wish me luck. If it acts up like the first one did, I will NOT buy any more Rowenta irons!

Osilo Pro itouch Iron
 

I just purchased the Oliso itouch Pro. I hope I don't have any problems with it. I choose this one because of the 1800 Watts and the fact that it don't turn off automatically for 30 minutes. So far I love it, sure do hope I got a good one. Hope the bugs are worked out.

Of Irons and such
 

I have always had good luck with Black and Decker. Other brands, big names, have gone toes up but I learned my lesson, inexpensive, bottom of the line Black and Decker works great for me.
On a more humorus note, back in the day, being so absent minded, I would forget to turn off the iron, a lot. So when going out for the day I would put the iron in the fridge. My son once asked me why I did this and I replied, " there are no outlets in the fridge" . Well it worked, I never burned down the house. Now I have a surge protector to plug in the iron and a lamp. So when I leave the sewing room for the day I turn off the surge protector. How do I know it is off.....cause the lamp is off. I have no fear of Azimers, I have been so absent minded all my life I would probably not notice it. I like to think I am absent minded because I am always thinking deep thoughts...I do like to think that.

I just have a cheap one - but it has auto turn off - hate that.

I plug mine into one of those power cords with the shutoff switch - and it is mounted right at the edge of my ironing board so I not only have lots of cord move room, I don't have to reach down to unplug and plug back in - and best I like is I can see in less than an instant if my iron is on or off when I leave the room. I put a nail polish dot by the ON side of the plug and I know in a fraction if it is on or off. It is also handy for me because I tend to have a "favorite" heat setting. :-)

Marysewfun

I have an inexpensive Black & Decker Steam Xpress bought at Target a long time ago, with auto shutoff & I have no problem at all. Mine stays on for a long time. I have this nightmarish thought: one of these days that auto shutoff doesn't work; I'd leave for work, and disaster may happen, like someone had posted a while ago about her house fire :(

I have a Panasonic iron. I've had it for years. It's been bounced off the floor and it still works. From what I've read on this board, you might be better off with a cheaper iron. Some of the very expensive irons leak, a lot. Good Luck!