I've made myself a guinea pig to the touchless garbage bin experiment and thought others might benefit from my experience.  I've owned two ITouchless trash cans for over a year now and I've really had a chance to view the pros and cons first-hand.   

For those of you who don't know what these are, they are basic cans with a high-tech lid that uses a battery-operated sensor to open and shut when something comes between it and the light source.  The lid has an on/off switch, two buttons: open & close, and a light sensor.  Standard-sized trash bags are put around a removable ring that then fits inside the edge of the can, hiding the bag completely.  It gives a very clean look to the cans, and is added peace of mind for those with concerns of choking hazards for small children.  These bins come in various sizes and colors.  I really like the stainless steel with black model for looks, but like all stainless steel items it does show fingerprints and smudges and the black shows dust.  The all-cream model on the other hand doesn't stand out and doesn't show fingerprints or dust.  I prefer the larger models myself, and they do a good job holding garbage and keeping light odors under wraps.

In the interest of full disclosure you should know that people may laugh at you for owning these.  Okay, so that probably won't deter you.  There are a few other things to know before rushing out to buy these gadgets.  Whatever you do, don't do what I did and throw out the battery cover.  Duh.  On most, if not all, of these touchless cans, the batteries are located in the lid and in order to change the batteries you must turn the lid upside down, remove the cover, replace the batteries and then replace the cover.  Simple, right? Apparently I didn't replace the cover tightly; it and the batteries got thrown out in the trash and I had to wait for a replacement cover to be sent.  (Note: you can open and close the lid by hand without the batteries, but it nullifies the benefits of having a "touchless" wouldn't you say?) The other major issue I've had is with the hinges.  These plastic hinges break much too easily, and the replacement parts, although allowing the lid to work properly, sometimes result in a loud, repetitious sound when the bin is opened.  I finally replaced the replacement hinges with large paperclips, but the same problem results.  So while I have absolutely no complaints about the customer service of ITouchless, I wish I didn't have to be so familiar with them.  Also, the light-sensors work much better when they are in bright light.  This may seem like a no brainer, but you'll need to think about how the light changes throughout a 24-hour period in the spot you plan to place the can.  I don't have many placement options in my kitchen, so while it works great in the morning and once I turn on my lights, I find it doesn't work consistently in the afternoon . . . so I resort to either using the buttons or just leave it open.  Also, you'll have to get used to leaving a "zone" around the bin or you'll find it opening everytime you walk past.

I'm a picky customer, so you shouldn't let my list of complaints scare you too much.  I'm still using both of my cans and they are both working fine.  I love the clean look, the hidden bag, the trapping of the odors, the capacity, and the touchless features; so until I win my dream home with built-in trash cans, I'll stick with these . . . even if my friends do laugh at me.