I have never used a similar product and most of the difficulties I have encountered may be my own fault but having no reference I can not say for sure. was really excited to use this for my project. Unfortunately, this little gadget turned out to be completely useless for my project. It was impossible to get a straight line with it and after 50 or more nails I had to stop using it. The theory is simple. You have to load the device with your nails and tap them. However, in practice, the nails turned out to be simply not straight. It was difficult to detach the device once the nails had been driven in without pulling them back out, and the notch on the back of the device, designed to keep the next set of nails in line, was difficult to negotiate. To be fair, my project was hardwood. If I had used something soft like pine the result might have been more favorable.