Pros: I received it in excellent condition. The bag is padded, clean, smells fine, and very sturdy. The tripod is practically flawless; no scratches or dents.
I bought to support my camera in portrait mode without budging. I have a Canon XT, battery grip, Canon 24-70 L lens, Canon 580EX flash. The included ball mount is good enough to support all that weight.

Cons: There is a grip between all of the legs that you can tighten to set the high of the shaft. The threads were pretty squeaky so i just used some graphite powder (shaved pencil lead) to make it smoother.
The lower smaller leg extensions seem to be thinner than they should be; it looks like they could have used thicker tubes.
With everything fully extended, the tripod has a little give. I would compare it to a lower end travel ball head tripod.
When you extend and lock the legs, they all curve to the side. It doesn't affect the stability though.
I wish is didn't have the model number printed on the foam leg padding.

Other Thoughts:

Bottomline: It was shipped separately in the retail box. The box was wrapped in thick paper then covered in packing tape. It was in the padded bag. Everything came in excellent condition.
The finish on the tripod is very nice; it feels expensive. The included bag is really good quality. I am impressed with everything.

Pros: As with everything in life, this tripod its not perfect. Of course the build is quite solid, sturdy and made from metal but the finishing quality is still bad.
Ball head can be moved smoothly.
It also comes with compass and 2 leveling thing.

Cons: Mine came with deep scratches and the bag quality is just unacceptable. The stitching on th bag is not strong enough to carry the weight of this tripod.

Other Thoughts: Product still can be cheap with proper quality control.
They should put more effort in quality control and stitching on the bag should be stronger.

Bottomline: This tripod is ok for the price but still no match to a proper tripod that they sell in photographer store.
Get this tripod if you're a photographer on a budget. It definetely serves the purpose.
Again for $69 its just an ok tripod.

Pros: -Excellent load rating; holds up my 70-200 f/4L IS no problem at any angle.
-built in bubble level on the tripod and the head is very useful
-lightweight
-retracts to a small size
-easy to use
-good quality
-GREAT price

Cons: -came in a dirty bag (very very dirty)
-one of the legs are looser than the others (but doesn't affect operation)

Other Thoughts: The bubble level is a great feature; however, if your camera body is bulky, it may obscure the bubble level since it sits too close to the mount. It'd be nice if it extends out a bit more. Works fine with a Canon 350D though.

Bottomline: I tried looking for comparable tripods at a local camera store and was unable to find anything comparable for DOUBLE the price. Unbelievable value for the price. Highly recommended to everyone!

Pros: - Decent built quality
- Nice foam grips on the legs
- Uses design features from the A-brands
- The turn knob to lock the ball head also locks the swivel of the mount on the top axis, very handy!
- Level air bubble on the mount
- Level air bubble on the tripod
- COMPASS (!) on the tripod
- When screwing the feet, spikes appear
- mount for camera of metal and very sturdy
- extra locking mechanism prevent accidently dismounting the mount
- foam filled pounch

Cons: - not 100% straight, if you open the legs, the central column is not perpendicular to the ground
- lanyard of pouch to short

Other Thoughts:

Bottomline: Very good and study tripod. Good alternative to cheap, lesser equiped aluminum ones.