I was very impressed with my first look at these. They have a very professional look and feel to them and are easy to handle. You selct a heat setting and there is an ionic button and they are ready to use in less than a minute.
They didn't seem to be holding my hair quite firmly enough when I used them at first, but the ends are cool touch so you can squeeze them together to hold it tighter.
They are fairly decent straighteners for £40. I had a pair babyliss pro 210 before but I found these to be much better. They do crackle a bit when I run them down my hair and I do feel I am damaging my hair quite a bit but maybe this is the same with all straighteners. One downside is that because they are designed to be used as curlers too the outside of them is as hot as the inside so I have burnt my ear a couple of times already.
I was hoping when I got them that my desire for GHDs would be gone but after a couple of weeks I am still feeling a bit dissatisfied and thinking of GHD's as the answer to all my frizz-related problems. I would recommend them if your budget is limited though.