I stared at this desk for a few months, trying to gauge how disappointed I would be with it. For the money it seemed like a great deal, but some of the reviews were scaring me off. Finally I ordered it., put it together, and am sitting at it right now. So let me tell you... it's a VERY nice desk for the money. That's not to say it's perfect, but for the price point it's a steal. Let me walk you through it.Amazon quoted me over a week for delivery, but it came much sooner than expected. The delayed shipping is likely due to it coming from the manufacturer, and because it's a big and heavy box. The box was probably a bit larger than the top piece (5 ft x 2 ft) and... I don't know... 6 inches thick. Don't under-estimate the size and weight of this. The box had thick bubble-wrap all around the outside of it. Unfortunately, it rained before I got to the box and the water penetrated some holes in the bubble wrap. The entire box was soaked and I was certain I was going to have to deal with potentially getting a new one shipped. I opened up the box, and not a drop of water was on any of the pieces! The desk pieces were surrounded by so much Styrofoam that no rain touched it. I carried the desk inside my house in pieces which was much easier to navigate than that box.For such a straightforward desk, there are a lot of pieces. I think there were something like 27 pieces of wood, and then a smaller box containing the legs and a ton of screws and nuts.The directions were... okay. There are no written directions, just diagrams. To be honest, some of the pictures were too small, or the diagrams were poorly designed. It took a lot of time to figure out and feel confident that I was about to assemble it correctly. The rails especially are hard (the longer rails are for the really big drawer, and the shorter ones for the two small drawers). You should be able to figure it out... they just didn't make it easy. Assembly probably took me 2-3 hours. DEFINITELY have a power screwdriver ready to help you with this... you don't want to hand screw this whole thing.The desk itself is excellent. It's large and it looks REALLY nice. The color is fantastic, and from a short distance it almost looks like a real solid wood desk.Unfortunately, this illusion ends quickly when you touch it. It doesn't "feel" like a solid wood desk... it feels like laminate. It's not so much the texture, which is fine... it's the solidness of the top piece. As other reviewers have noted, the top piece is not solid. I'm not even talking about a solid piece of hardwood... it's not even a solid piece of MDF. It feels like they took some thin sheets of MDF, put separators in between, and glued it all together. Again... it LOOKS really nice. And it's solid enough to put normal things on that you would on a desk... but as soon as you touch it you can feel and hear that it's hollow. It gives a bit of a hollow sound when you run your hand across it (or knock on it), and you can just feel the weight isn't there. I don't really know how to describe it, but despite the looks and high quality of the veneer, it doesn't feel high-end. All the other pieces (the drawer components and such) are solid. I am guessing they were able to drive the price down by not using or paying shipping on a solid piece on top, but it definitely effects your feelings on the desk.Now, does it feel like I am going to go right through it when working on it? No. Not at all. It feels solid enough. I've already pounded on it with my fist pretty hard and it didn't feel like I was going to go through it. Maybe if I really smashed something on it it might penetrate, but it would have to be some huge accident... normal use isn't going to break this thing. Regardless, I've been thinking about adding a piece of clear glass or acrylic to the top to add some weight and heft and protect it.I have a heavy 32" curved monitor mounted on a hydraulic arm, and I was wondering how that was going to hold on this desk top. Happily there was no issue at all and the desk is holding the arm really well. Note though that I was careful not to over-tighten when I clamped the arm down for obvious reasons. Again, I think a piece of glass or acrylic could help with this.--- PROS ---- Looks beautiful, and exactly like the picture. There is no denying how nice this desk looks and the quality of the veneer.- Nice large 5'x2' size is perfect- Top piece "appears" to be really thick, which is a nice touch- Drawers work great. Lots of space in them (especially the big one) to store stuff- Spacing is great. I and my chairs' arms fit under it well. Drawers are just the right distance on each side.- Veneer covers every side of everything. No rough edges that I can see.- The price was right!--- CONS ---- Something about the top being hollow reduces the niceness of this desk. It's not like you can see it, but somehow you kind of feel it with your hands as you work on the desk.- There is no cord hole, USB or power ports, or under-desk cord holders. Given that the desk is hollow I'm a bit worried about drilling one in.- One of the three drawers is slightly, slightly, askew. It still fits fine and doesn't rub anything, but when you look at it the alignment is just off a hair.- While the legs are really nice, something about the matching drawer handles I don't love. I think I'll likely replace them if possible.