Mandoline

Well, going against everyone else, I think they are great!  I got one for my wife who never got round to using it. I took it out the other day and didn't realise all the different cutting blades that came with it, I chose one to make courgette spaghetti and it worked really well. There is a little handle thing that if you use makes it impossible to cut yourself.My next plan is to make sweet potato rice with it.

Mines not a posh one like yours Vinny. just a hand held one that has three different slicing thicknesses by turning a knob.
it is made by the people who make the little red stock cubes -  and has pretty good reviews for such a basic model.
i probably did want it for uniform slicing of pickles, Bren, or maybe for neat apple slices on top of a cake. 
Thanks for the suggestions -still wondering whether to take it out of the packaging.