The Hoover S1120 is cordless, bagless, cleans carpets and bare floors, and both wet and dry messes. Its strong motor uses the battery up in about 7 minutes, so it won’t replace a regular vacuum, but for all the small spills and messes you would hate to pull out the big vacuum for, you can use this. Consumer reviews at Pricegrabber and Amazon are very positive. At under $30, it’s an incredibly reasonable handheld vacuum.

Beth :: Jul.03.2007 :: Vacuum :: 1 Comment »

When you want one machine to be a color printer, fax, scanner, and copier for under $200, you’re asking a lot. The Canon Pixma MP530 can accomplish all of the above in a reasonable way, but if you want the best quality scans of your photographs, for instance, a dedicated scanner is still your best bet. For a home office with limited space and budget, though, this does the trick. Printing documents is quick and the text is crisp. Photo printing is quite good (on photo paper) for typical uses. Manual settings allow for scanning at various qualities and the results are nice. The fax receives and sends things as it should, without causing interferences with the usual phone line. The built-in document feeder helps with copying larger stacks of paper (up to 30pgs). With so much functionality, it can be more difficult to learn and optimize everything, but it’s no worse than learning to use any other multifunction printer.

Beth :: Jul.03.2007 :: Multifunction Printer :: No Comments »

No other Digital Video Recorder really even compares to the elegant, affordable, and easy to use TiVo system. It is more difficult to set the clock on your alarm than it is to program TiVo to record your favorite shows. The remote fits nicely in the hand and is intuitively arranged, while the screen prompts and menus make sense too. Service for the system can be purchased monthly or yearly and is usually on par with what cable companies charge for their generic video recorders, which are not nearly as nice. TiVo does other fun things like allow you to designate “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” to programs, create “season passes” to automatically record all the episodes of whatever you like, record one program while you watch another, and record suggestions that it thinks you will enjoy based on preferences you’ve entered. It is true that once you have TiVo, it’s almost excruciating to watch television the “normal” way again.

Beth :: Jul.02.2007 :: Video Recorder :: No Comments »

The T-Fal Avante Elite is a Consumer Reports Quick Pick, and ConsumerSearch labels it the best overall toaster oven. Though CR points out that no toaster ovens are excellent, what makes the Avante reasonable is what it accomplishes for $80: it has a larger rack which fits 6 slices of toast, self-cleaning walls, a neat warming plate under the curved glass top, and convection, which cooks your food faster than a regular oven would. It’s stylish, and Epinions users are happy with the Avante.

Beth :: Jul.02.2007 :: Toaster, Toaster Oven :: No Comments »