My Foodsaver is too old to even have a model number. It works as well as the day I bought it. It is heavier then an anvil, but it works as advertised and it has a vacuum port for accessories. The only ones I have are adapters to evacuate 'Mason jars'. Food bacterias do not live in a high vacuum. I don't use my 'FoodSaver' anymore. My FoodSaver will thoroughly crush an aluminum soda can.



Another brand of vacuum sealer is the Sinbo VS 280 from Sorbent Systems. It uses a vacuum system different then Tilia. It is a snorkel system. That is, it has a very flat retractable tube that inserts into the top of the bag allowing a seal to occur that will support evacuating the bag. It will evacuate and seal 'Ziploks' quite successfully. Howver 'Ziploks' are not strong enough nor are they designed to hold a vacuum. My VS280 will also crush an aluminum can, but possibly not quite as flat as the Foodsaver does. The difference is hard to tell. I have no idea what the vacuum is in mm Hg. I see no difference in longevity in the freezer.

You can get 6" X 8" and 8" X 12" bags from Sorbent Systems in quanties of 400 (200 each). These bags are at least as reliable as the Tilia bags and far cheaper. I don't bother to wash them out and I use a lot of them. Like the Tilia bags, my typical method of reheating vacuumed, frozen food is to put a bag into a pot of water and boil it for a few minutes. Beware of allowing your machine to ingest fluids into the vacuum motor. My VS280 has gone belly up for that reason. (Damn demon rum). I will order a new one tomorrow. They are reasonably priced the last time I looked. I may query the company about getting mine repaired, but they don't seem to have much support for this little machine.

My first sealer was a Tilia (FoodSaver) and the one I now own is a Black & Decker (B&D). Although they say you can use "most bags from other manufacturers", I found the gallon-sized Tilia bags were 1/2 inch WIDER and not easily useable. Comparing the 2 machines, my overall vote would go to the Tilia (FoodSaver); it was faster and the bags seemed to stay sealed better. My B&D has problems with the larger bags of their own. They just don't seal as well.