My experience has been nothing but positive. As others have said, the M&P is like a Glock but more refined in some ways (and maybe less in others, such as the stock trigger, but that can be easily remedied). To me, it feels more natural to hold, point, as well as shoot, and I haven't found another pistol that I like better, at least for defensive purposes. As for reliability, my M&P40 has been perfect so far with well over 1000 rounds from various sources having been put through it. It also tolerates limp-wristing extremely well--I never could get mine or any other to jam this way. As for durability, I've never put it through a Glock-like torture test, but it has some of the same design features that keep Glocks running when not pristine, such as small, self-clearing slide guides and openings for crud to get blown out during shooting. No M&P that I've rented in the past has ever failed to fire, and some of those were absolutely filthy and had well-worn magazines.