I bought a Mini-Foodsaver there about 1-1/2 years ago. It worked well at first but now it seems like the seals leak after 1-2 months.
This is yet another reason we went with a commercial sealer. The consumer units have a narrow heating element which makes a thin little seal in the plastic. The commercial units have a sealing element that's twice as wide with adjustable heat settings - you will get a proper seal with whatever bag you're using, which is not always assured (as you've discovered) with a home unit.
(This may be the reason Doug had problems with different bag brands - I've noticed that some of them are thinner than others, so the narrow, cooler heating elements can still seal them. It also kind of "locks in" the user to that brand of bag.)
We used to frequently encounter compromised seals and ruined food with the old sealers; since switching to the commercial unit, we've had zero problems with any seals failing. The peace of mind alone is worth the price!
-=[ Grant ]=-