I find chopping up meat and vegetables far easier and more precise when the knives are freshly sharpened. When I saw this gadget on the internet, I bought it straight away. After several years of struggling with manual tin openers that were very stiff and caused me a great deal of frustration, it had not occurred to me to get an electric tin opener, as I always assumed they were for elderly or disabled people. The fact that I wanted a knife sharpener gave me the perfect excuse!

As a knife sharpener, it does the job exactly as expected and it couldn't be simpler. You hold the knife in one of the slots at the back and press down the black lever which starts the grinder. Then you slowly pull the knife towards you across the rotating grinder. You then repeat this in the second slot the sharpener the other side of the blade and that's it - job done!

To open tins, you lift the lever and place the tin in line with the guard then close the lever until the blade pierces the lid, then push it down a little further. The tin is then fixed and will automatically rotate whilst the blade cuts it. And here's the good bit... you don't even have to hold it in place. The tin will rotate until the cutter has gone round it completely, then stop, but still hold it in place. You simply unhook the open tin and a magnet in the lever holds the cut lid so you don't have to try and pry it out. It will even open unusually shaped tins like the ones you get for corned beef. So no more battling with those annoying keys.

Whilst the shiny aluminum look is not to my taste and looks little cheap, and the bottle-opener is noting to write home about, the functionality of this item makes it more than worthwhile. A few weeks after I bought it, I saw my mum struggling to use a manual tin opener and ordered her one of these bad boys on the spot. She loves it too!