I have an edgepro apex and a wicked edge go. I also used to have a lansky system.

The chinese clone that you have of the edgepro apex has important differences that you pay for.

1. Inferior chinese silicon stones. The edge pro sells high quality japanese stones. They are far better quality and finish and you will see that on the edge. The higher 4000 grit is what I use for finishing and you can get a mirror finish rather than use and leather with stroping paste.

2. The clamp onto the bench is poor. It relies on suction which you don't get and you kit will be moving. The edge pro and wicked edge are clamped via c-clamp and will not move. You should not be applying so much pressure it will flex.

3. There is not height defined angle. Whereas the more expensive systems have the degrees marked so you can generally adjust between 15 and 35 degrees without the need for an inclometer.

4. The edge pro has an after market magnet which I bought and firmly holds the blade in place.

I'd consider the edge pro a turbo version of the Lansky, which only uses diamond stones which are generally more coarser than the silicon stones. Lansky is fine for out bush but not as refined as the edgpro apex.

5. The adverstising shows the knife clamped underneath the guide. The spine of the knife is meant to sit on the which plastic, not to be clamped by it so you can easily move long blades along if you cant do the whole blade in one pass.

Edgepro have just release a new version which incorporates the bench clamp and magnet as standard now. The quality is so much better than the chinese clones.

Having said all that I did have a chinese clone for a couple of months as I learned to sharpen. Sure I got my knives shaving sharp but it took longer than the American made original and I doubt would last as long.

Edge Pro and Wicked Edge are great manual systems and a step up from just a sharpening stone but if you have to re-profile to remove large chunks they can take a lot of time and effort compared to something like an electric Tormek T4.

I use mine every week at home for knives, sisscors and securtuers. Everything is razor sharp and cutting things is now not such a chore.