I bought this to ice shin splints after ballet class.Pros:- Good for icing anywhere you have no freezer access in which to keep gel pack for a couple hours while you workout.- An icepack might do this as well - but I find ice packs (I don't mean 'gel' packs) don't bend to fit your body. You could rub an icepack as you rub this thing, but in practice thats sort of clumsy. You'd need a lot of bulk to insulate an icepack - probably more than the size of this thing and would not do the job as well.- Rubbing the ice directly really feels like the best possible way to ice. You could rub ice cubes but the plastic parts on this really make holding the ice way more comfortable and allow you control pressure amazingly well.- As mentioned above - the parts are very comfortable and functional to handle.- Looks good and well constructed- Lasts quite a while - you could ice several body parts - I never completely use the ice in mine in one sitting.Cons:- A little bulky on its own plus you need to take a hand towel or something like that to catch dripping as you ice yourself (unless you're outside). Don't see how this could be helped - you'd need a lot of bulk to insulate and keep anything cold.Not quite cons:- I recommend putting the whole case inside plastic while its in your bag because it can drip a bit as it slowly melts over hours. Not an issue in my opinion. Only issue is if you forget and put it in your bag rolling around unprotected with something very liquid sensitive like paper - but that would be a silly mistake.- I guess you could have a little awkwardness in using this - ice dispenser could be jammed depending on how you freeze it but a minute of warming in hands fixes this and just a little observation and trail and error would teach you how to avoid this. Tip if you're having this problem: remember water expands as it freezes and though water might be in right place when you fill the cup - in freezer could it could expand enough tocover the sliding parts - so experiment with putting a little less water before freezing untill you find right spot (and you could even mark that spot with a little scratch.Comparing to ice pack:- This is a superior alternative because an ice pack would stay cold for less time, and need just as much if not more bulk to stay frozen. This ice massager does take more work because you have to actually hold it and rub - but this has its advantages (you're able to massage and pinpoint spots).- Another advantage of icepacks is that they don't drip but I don't mind taking a small piece of fabric to catch dripping.- Icepacks don't bend to fit several parts of your body well (shins, elbows, feet, head, shoulder, etc)- I AM NOT A FAN OF ICEPACKS FOR REASONS RELATED AND UNRELATED TO DIFFERENCES FROM THIS PRODUCTS.Comparing to gel packs:- First of all gel packs are not THAT cold for THAT long. With each gel pack you get about 5 mins of cold plus 15 mins of sorta cold. This can be good enough for some issues but certainly does not do what an icing would do- If you have more than one spot to ice youd need to have several freezing for hours prior.- Gel packs are amazing if you have a freezer immediately available for several hours prior to and on location of workout ( doesn't happen often).- Gel packs need a couple hours to get cold enough. So even if you have a freezer available, you need to make sure you put the gel packs in 2 hours before end of your workout.- GEL PACKS ARE BETTER FOR VERY MINOR TREATMENT WHEN YOU HAVE A FREEZER AVAILABLE RIGHT NEXT TO YOU AND THE TIME TO LEAVE IT SITTING FOR HOURS BEFORE YOU NEED IT.Comparing to gel pack:-