So about a year or 2 ago I bought a ziploc branded vacuum sealer off a buddy for cheap & got hooked. Said vacuum sealer has recently bit the dust. Some extra juicy ground beef got into the workings due to some poor design, leaving me looking for a replacement.

Mostly use it for sealing/freezing extra meat, leftovers from large meals, and coffee beans (buy 5lb bags to save some $$). Small kitchen, so it gets put in the pantry downstairs when not being used.

Been looking at the Foodsaver models, have a bunch of Foodsaver rolls still. Models seem a bit hard to compare. My old Ziploc branded sealer was as bare bones as you get, so pretty much anything would be an upgrade. Only big improvement I'm looking for is a way to avoid squishing soft foods (I know the freezer trick, but occasionally don't freeze long enough). From what I've seen the base models let you interrupt the vacuum process & start sealing, while some of the higher end models have a pulse feature. Not sure if pulse is that much better.

Budget is fairly flexible, but if a lower end (less expensive) model will do what I need, all the better. Any suggestions?

I have a foodsaver brand think paid $80 or so for it. Has worked great for three-four years. I need to take the rubber seals off and clean them good as they tend to stick to each other when I close it. Other than that no issues. Mine is black although they do make the same with in Camo for a "game vacusealer" for extra money yet both are the same model just different paint/color.

I also have a FoodSaver.  Mine is ten years old.

This one has all the most important features except roll storage:

A vacuum sealer isn't a "need" for me anymore, I just do this: Vacuum seal without equipment

It works fine for me, I haven't had any trouble.

The difference being how well the food 'draws-in' whatever seasoning is in the bag.

 

I think my girlfriend just picked that one up. She did alot of sliced veggies form the garden and froze them. Worked well.

Thanks, ended up going with this one. Just tried it out on some chicken breasts. Like it better than my old ziploc unit.

I have the same one bought about a year ago at BJ's, works fine