I am planning on getting one as a gift for Christmas but I can't seem to find out if the "cook's" brand of crock-pots is a good and long lasting crock pot.?
google the home page of that brand and see who its made by. Some popular makers of equipment often have a side brand going and the big brand quality goes along with it, in general.
http://www.viewpoints.com/Cooks-Crock-Pots
I have included a site that reviews crockpots. take a look.
I also found other sites that do the same thing and you could also look at those.