The vacuum is very loud but we just cut holes in the wall for the hoses and put the vac in the next room over. The actual trimmer is not very loud and we have the trimmers that do the big leafing sitting next to it all day with no complaints. Not about the noise anyway. I think you should have given your machine a second chance. There is definitely a learning curve. I just don't buy that you are seeing nodes in the shake collection because mine chops the shake up so finely. I get some loose shake around the machine and on the floor but nothing that looks like nodes. I could see how if you had a very spiraled out very node-y sativa strain it could make it look weird but if you have nice looking uniform buds it shouldn't be a problem. I have not tried it on any weird sativa strains but I have run indoor, outdoor ,and light dep with great results. What strain are you running? Indoor or out? We spend a few minutes cleaning up the buds after they are dry and before they get bagged up but that is a lot better than a whole day on one lb. I don't know why you would drop 15k on a machine if you didn't have a lot to trim. The more you have to trim the more it is worth it. Sorry if I come off like a dick but I think you are giving people a very bad picture. I think the person that has 50 plus pounds to trim is going to need this but not most other people. Around here 50lbs is mom and pop.