Do you know if certain models are better? Like are the professional ones more durable and worth the extra money compared to the less expensive ones?

A few of my friends told me that Rowentas are supposed to be great irons and I did like mine a lot before the auto-off started malfunctioning. I'm kind of wondering if I got a bad one since a year seems to be too short of a lifespan for an iron; I only bought it last March so I'm disappointed I'm having problems with it so soon. :-/