I purchased this for 2 reasons: 1) to keep my 2 1/2 yr old daughter out of certain areas & 2) to keep my 10 month old pug puppy out and in certain areas.
When you first get this item, you will probably think that yours is defective. It probably isn't. Apparently, they leave a large gap where the latch connects to the gate. When you pull it out of the packaging you will really notice this. They make it this way so that when you tighten the gate against the door frame, the gap shortens and everything works properly - so don't freak out until you actually try the gate! And definitely try the gate in the door frame before you install the cups just in case it doesn't work for some reason, though it probably will.
We just bought a "new" house which was built in 1939 and has numerous "projects" still in process. For example, the bathroom on the main floor is connected directly to the laundry room. There is no door in between, but the laundry room itself has a door - so you can shut the door to the laundry room to have privacy. However, my dog is not allowed in the bathroom because he chews on everything, drinks out of the toilet, and licks the inside of my daughter's training potty (EW). So we put this gate between the laundry room and bathroom to separate the two. The doorway is just drywall - it doesn't have wood like the doorway in the photo. BUT the gate still works great and doesn't damage the drywall in anyway. We did install the cups for better stability - we tried without the cups, and it wobbled. We would have to tighten the gate so much that the gap would shorten too much and the gate part wouldn't work properly. With the cups installed, it's very stable and everything works great.
We also are going to install the other gate in the kitchen doorway which DOES have wood around it like the one in the photo - to keep our daughter out while we're cooking and to keep the dog in when we leave. We'll probably install the cups for this gate as well.
All in all, this is a very sturdy gate but I do recommend you use the cups. They provide more stability and ease the mind. My daughter and my dog run into the gates all the time and nothing happens. The gate mechanism is fairly easy to use as well. I've only had the gate up for 2 days and I can already open and close it one-handed. My dog chews on it and it hasn't scratched the paint. The gate is also much taller than I expected (I'm 5'4" and it comes up to my collar bone) which is great because the dog can jump over the standard height gates. The gate opening is kinda small, so if you're a large person or have large people in your house or large people who visit, it might be a problem depending on how often they will need to go between rooms. I am average sized and I have to walk through the gate at a slight angle to avoid hitting the opening sides with my arms/shoulders.
I am extremely happy with these gates and I recommend them to everyone with kids or pets!
(WARNING: make sure that you periodically check the pressure of the gate. I check mine every couple days because normal use can cause the gate to loosen slightly.)