I love ours. We got it last year after getting a puppy in Nov. Our old dog used to love the reals trees, but one year took the realism to far for me (still have the mark in the carpet to prove it.) Now I've got a low maintenance tree with branches strong enough to hold our many special ornaments and the dog is only mildly interested in it. I love having one less thing to stress over - no watering, no needles, no "when should we buy, when should it go" - we put it up the week after Christmas and will take it down when we feel like it. When I miss the smell, I light my evergreen Yankee Candle!!