After reading many mixed reviews on this product, I decided to take a chance since I did not need anything really high end and did not want to spend a lot. People complaining about the finish or whatever may have been hoping for something that looked exactly like the far more expensive ones for a cheaper price. These are quite sturdy and look nice. Do they look like the $100+ set my friend has? No...but they are more than satisfactory for use when I have friends over or need them for our own use in front of the TV. Weirdly, the reports that some sets seem to come with metal legs rather than wood ones as listed in the ad is true, but I actually like that because they are already heavy enough, and with my disabilities, making them any heavier would start being difficult for me to maneuver. And the color matches, so they look fine too. You do NOT have to "take them apart" to use them after initially setting them up out of the box. They are the "old school" style where, rather than sliding on a rail to fold up, you pop the narrower edge of the legs out of the holder and fold it back to next inside the other half and the top drops down. (Just like with a rail but you pop out that side to fold it in rather than just sliding it.) The stand went together very easily and seems well balanced. For me, they are a great value for the amount I paid for them.