I've got a big fancy metal Bron that I never use -- too much trouble to set up and clean. I also have a cheapo plastic Benriner (two, in fact) that I use a lot, when I want perfectly even slices or julienne. And it's a lot faster than doing it with a knife (one of my downfalls at restaurants was speed -- just don't have it
).
With practice, one doesn't get the personal cuts, just the uniform ingredient ones.
