Paragon Theater Pop 4-Ounce Popper Popcorn Machine, Red

I've had this Paragon TP-4 for about two months and it has been a great popcorn machine so far. This one (the 4 ounce) has a lifetime warranty. It arrived in perfect condition, but missing the tilt out stainless steel piece under the door. I contacted the customer service folks at Paragon. They were very helpful and promptly sent me the missing part, free of charge. The 4 ounce machine is the perfect size for 2-3 adults. You may want to consider the 6 ounce for 3-4 adults, or do what we do and make two batches, i.e. two cycles. I usually clean the machine up with a dry paper towel. The popping pot cleans up easily with a paper towel as well. The pot has a kind of Teflon type coating inside that makes clean up easy. I chose this particular machine because it's manufactured in the US and according to some reviews of the lower priced machines that are made in China, much more durable and reliable. The glass and metal are high quality. I also like the classic popcorn machine appearance of this machine.

This is my first popcorn popper, and I'm very impressed with it! It's definitely a high-quality machine made of high quality parts. The thing is rock solid, and attractive at the same time. With the right stuff it is actually very easy to clean. It has a little grate in the floor where you can just whisk the unpopped kernels or other remnants of your prior batch, then slide out the compartment and throw it away. Very easy. The 4oz is a great size. Before you buy a larger size, think long and hard about how you are going to store such a beast. Honestly, no matter how many people you are making popcorn for, the 4oz will do just fine, because each batch will take only a couple of minutes to make.

After researching many machines I got for Christmas a Paragon TP4 machine. The look of the machine is awesome, the kettle is top notch. The taste of the popcorn with coconut oil is awesome. However I do have some criticism and wanted to post them. Overall all the machine is good so if you don't want to hear them read no further just go but and buy it, it is a good machine. 1 the kettle has a pin to remove it that is great for cleaning but there is no way to disconnect the power cord so it hangs there and whacks the side it would just make sense to have plug you and pull out so you can take the little out of the machine instead of cleaning it and pulling on the wire. Would make replacement a lot easer as well. 2 The door is horrible. This is the worst part it makes the whole machine feel cheap it is a really thin piece of flexy plexy glass. The stainless steel catch try can scratch it, there should be a protector there or a better design. My door had a deep gauge within 20 min of people looking at it and playing with the tray with out the door fully open. How hard is it for them to put on a glass door or at least a thicker plexy glass door so it doesn't feel cheap. 3 Needs a vent. The instructions tell you to crack the door when it is pooping to let the moisture out. Really! The popcorn flyes out of the machine on the floor. Maybe in the bigger machines it is not an issue because there is more room around the kettle but in the 4oz because it is a small machine it is. How hard is it to design a vent in the top or side that you can open and close. 4 Now I am being picky, but the stickers are on crooked, I swear they must be drunk when assembling these. So much for American made quality I think I would of preferred a Chinese machine with straight stickers. I need to call Paragon on this one to see if they can send me stickers. Take some pride put the stickers on straight. 5 This is just me but for the price the warming light should be a LED. Or a nice rope light around. It should also be a separate switch and dim so I can turn it on for looks in my HT without turning the heaters on. It is to bright durning a movie now I need to turn it off which I bought the machine to look nice, and when you turn it off it kills the heaters. 6. Warming element is off to one side below it would be nice if it warmed all the popcorn evenly. 7. Old maids tray is useless. It has a couple of holes in the middle but it is not where the popcorn lands in this machine and when you scoop you scoop agents a side so it pushes the unpoped kernels there. So there is more on the machine then in the try when done. The whole bottom hold be a olds maid tray or at least near the corners. Again probably better on the bigger machines. That's it for now for a company making these machines for years I'm surprised at the lack of refinement in the machine. But the popccorn still tastes good.

First off this machine makes great popcorn. It is as quick as any of the home theater style machines my friends have and the warming coil in the bottom is a very nice "extra" feature. It is easier to clean than most. A simple wipe down is usually all that's needed. However, everything, including the kettle, is easy to remove if you want to do a complete cleaning. While it is more expensive than some similar looking machines, it is built far better. If you look at the shipping weight you'll see it's 15 to 20 pounds heavier. There's a very good reason, the frame and components are heavy duty and quality materials. The bottom line this, machine should last a long time, is easy to maintain and, oh yes, makes great popcorn.

I ordered this on Nov3, and it arrived on Nov. 7th. Dang fast for free shipping. I'm eating popcorn from the 2 sample "packages" of popcorn that come with the unit as I type this (a little greasy on the keyboard). Taste very good, much better then microwave popcorn. The rest of the same order has yet to arrive, but the sample packages will do until then. Machine looks nice and is American made. It will also make popcorn much faster then I can eat it ... glad I bought it.

You can get cheaper, you can definitely buy a more commercial brand like Gold Metal and spend a lot more for a 4 or 6 oz. machine, but this manufacturer and what they provide you for the cost is unparalleled in the business. Its well built, consistent, and easily maintained. If there is one negative due to its smaller size is that its a little hard to get the product into the kettle without a handy heat proof container to use, perhaps the fine folks at Paragon will come out with such things in the future. Highly recommended and with the best warranty in its price range, of course its made in the USA! In the meantime I will see what I can find on that container.

I love popcorn and was so excited to get this machine. It is built from high quality materials but performance is terrible. I have followed the instructions as stated to the T and pop with the door open to allow steam out while popping. I have tried more than one brand of popcorn as well. It all comes out as the same chewy mess. Also large amounts of unpopped kernels come flying out of the kettle while popping. So disappointed that I paid so much money for something I will no longer use. Back to popping on top of the stove for me as it tastes so much better than what comes out of this popper. I wish I could return it and get my money back

It is supposed to accept 4 oz of popcorn, but you can easily do 6 oz at a time. There are a number of unpopped kernels no matter how many oz you use, but it is worth having. We have a video room and candy counter so it is perfect for us.