Appliances Archives - Page 11 of 12

The Aerobie AeroPress Coffee & Espresso Maker

I’ve already posted about how much I love a nice piece of
toast, and how Juan Valdez is one of my personal heroes. Since apparently I’ve been on a bit of a
breakfast kick lately, I want to talk about coffee (again). It’s probably the best thing about mornings,
in my opinion.

You see, I hate mornings. Hate them with the burning passion of 1000 flaming suns. Don’t talk to me before 10 AM(or until a few hours after I get home from work
either, for that matter… yeah, I’m a grumpy kind of guy). Unfortunately for me, at my place of
employment, the only thing consistent about the coffee is that it is terrible. Too weak, too strong, bad-tasting grinds,
unclean coffee pot… it’s a mess.

That’s why I’m seriously considering purchasing the Aerobie
AeroPress Coffee & Espresso Maker. I’m
tired of depending on the coffee tastes of others and am more than willing to
take on the task of making my own coffee.

Allen Hong at Gear Diary had a very complimentary review of
the Aerobie AeroPress, stating:

After a few weeks of making my own fresh coffee nearly every
day, I have concluded that the Aeropress Coffee Maker system to my surprise
does exactly everything that Aerobie says it does. It makes an extremely good
tasting cup of coffee or espresso. The espresso tastes better than the one I
tried at a local restaurant. And the regular American coffee is the best. I
find it amazing that a device with simple plastic parts can make such a good
cup of coffee. I would recommend the Aeropress Coffee & Espresso Maker
system to anyone who loves coffee.

If someone from Aerobie happens to read this, or anyone
knows how I can get hold of an AeroPress to give it a review, I’d LOVE to do
it. I’m addicted to coffee, and I know
if I had one of these bad contraptions it’d get an incredibly thorough review
from yours truly, who’d definitely put it through its paces.

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Yeah Toast!

by Ron Hogan Leave a Comment

I don’t think this product is real, yet, but when it finally comes to market? Yeah, I’m definitely going to get one, because there is nothing I like better than a good piece of toast with jam on top. Strawberry jam, no less. Or, since it is tomato season, toasted bread to go with my BLT. Mmmm…

Anyway, where was I?

The problem with making toast is that usually I burn it. I know there’s that little selecting thing on the side for light to dark, but that’s never an accurate representation of how the toast will come out, if only because it operates from a cool default, not a hot start like if you’ve been making toast for awhile. The more you toast, the hotter the toaster gets. The hotter the toaster, the more burned the toast. I’m tired of scraping black ash off my toast!

Product people, whoever? Make this invisible toaster with a one-punch emergency release button. So I can watch my toast without getting a face full of burning bread smell and pop it out when it’s the way I like it, not whenever the toaster decides it is ready. This is America; I can have my toast as brown and hot as I want it and no machine is going to tell me what to do!

Shame it’s only a concept right now, but man, do I want an invisible toaster.

Tip: Engadget

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Sony Rules Your Living Room

by Ron Hogan Leave a Comment

One of Sony’s goals, and I don’t feel like I’m wrong in saying this, is a little thing called convergence. Simply put, it is the principle of one gadget to do all your tricks at once. That’s one of the reasons the PS2 had a DVD player built in, and why the PS3 has a Blu-Ray player built in. They want their video game system to be the center of your home entertainment system (even though a stand alone DVD player and a Wii would run you about half the price of a PS3 and spare you the indignity of backing a possible loser in the Format Wars).

While Apple has yet to roll out their Blu-Ray enabled iMac, Sony has rolled out a drool-worthy all-in-one VAIO LT TV/PC that not only has all the guts you’d want in a computer running Windows Vista Ultimate, but is flat enough and large enough to mount on the wall! It features a 1680×1050 widescreen display, a 1.3 megapixel camera, 802.11n wireless support, 2GB of RAM, a Blu-Ray player/recorder, HD-cable readiness, DVR functionality, wireless peripherals, and a variety of upgrade options, you’ve got geeks in lust all over the world.

The only weaknesses are the high cost ($1900 or $2900 for the model with the recordable Blu-Ray drive) and small size as televisions go (22 inches). Still, you could do a lot worse for your office and it’s a great replacement for the cable box collecting dust on top of your old analog TV.

Photo Credit: Ars Technica

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taking do-it-yourself to an astounding new level

by Ron Hogan Leave a Comment

I don’t know where you live, but it’s probably hot. It seems like most of the country is in the
grip of a terrible heat wave, and air conditioners are working overtime to try
and keep the nation’s BO level at a tolerable mild funk. Of course, as temperatures crack triple
digits, our technology to keep cool falls under greater strain.

This is where Murphy’s Law comes into play. Anything that can go wrong will go wrong, and
the more you use a piece of equipment, the more likely you are to break
it. Unsurprisingly, the hotter the
weather gets, the more you depends on that AC to keep you from frying eggs on
your forehead.

Why did I remind everyone just how hot it is
outside?

Well, my car is ancient, and as such, stuff is starting to
go wrong on it, including the air conditioning. On your average internal combustion engine, the air conditioning runs
off the same drive belt that runs the power steering and all the other
important technical stuff that I don’t really understand. When you turn on the air conditioning and the
compressor cycles on, it adds additional strain to the power steering. The main bearing of the power steering is
threatening to go out every time I put that extra strain on the drive belt by
turning on the air conditioning.

I’m trying my best to avoid using the air conditioning, but
if I have to choose between sweating buckets sitting on a burning hot leather
seat and wrestling with the wheel and being cool, I’ll take my chances with
manual steering. Or I could refrain from
using my car’s air conditioner, preserve my power steering, and graft an air
conditioner onto the roof of my car like University of Houston graduate Scott Dawson.

You gotta see this to believe it. It’s incredible that A) he thought to do
this, B) it actually works, and C) nobody’s stolen the air conditioner
yet. There are probably easier ways to
save $1200, but none are quite this impressive.

(photo credit: MyFox Houston)

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When only a hot snack will do

by David Allen Leave a Comment

There can be nothing better than having people around for drinks etc, this gives you the opportunity to show off all of your little gadgets, like the Nacho and Dip warmer. This will defiantly impress all of your friends and show what a host or hostess your are.

The tray is made from melamine which will hold the heat and will crack or shatter, it has five separate compartments one in the center for the dip or salsa and four around the outside for either different flavors or just simply and easier way to offer each person a pair chance of getting a portion of the nachos.

Obviously the tray needs to be plugged in to generate the heat, but once going it will keep the snacks and dips warm for as long as it is needed, which is much better than picking up a whole clump of nachos held together by a cooled down piece of cheese.

As the tray itself is made from melamine this means that it is heat and crack proof, and of course the heater element situated in the base is completely and easily detached in order to keep the tray clean, and as we all know washing up after a whole lot of nachos have been cooking away in it, will take some doing.

The cost for this essential item is around $19 not bad for a party piece; pity it does not plug into the USB port though!

Source [Shiny Media]

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Make your own shot glasses

by David Allen Leave a Comment

You know how it is, there you are sitting around at home when a few friends turn up with drinks and nibbles, but to your horror you have not got any glasses, well none that would pass the friend test. Luckily a while ago you were talked into buying a pack of “Cool Shooters” and just by chance you made them up and put them in the freezer, well lets face it there’s nothing else in the freezer!

So great you got glasses, these novelty glasses have been made from water and the specially designed moulds so that when the ice is taken out of the special food grade silicon rubber moulds they look like shot glasses, you know the ones that are filled to the top and downed in one, not that I know of course I must have seen it on the TV or something, anyway these shot glasses can be made from water, juice or your favorite other drink, apart from the ones that do not freeze, like vodka etc.

This is quite a good novelty party piece, though I do see a couple a potential problems ahead, as everyone knows, ice can be sticky, so what do you do if the glass happens to stick to your lips, that sounds rather painful to me and naturally the fact that ice melts, so these glasses not be the best choice for the barbecue!

The price for one tray that will produce four ice shot glasses, will cost around $7 plus shipping and handling.

Source [Perpetualkid]

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Modern art or furniture?

by David Allen Leave a Comment

Now initially the obelisk looks as if it belongs in a museum or maybe even in the reception of a large corporation’s office, as it resembles a piece of bespoke modern art. Yet on closer inspection you will notice that the materials are that of aluminum and plastic, or as the store states “Woven Polyethylene” so what appeared to be some sort of artists metalwork project, has now become something completely different.
Obelisk1

Once dismantled to art turns into some very practical furniture and the whole concept becomes very clear indeed. The base is still a base, but when combined with the pointed top of the obelisk it becomes a coffee table and the other four pieces once placed on the floor need no explanation as to what they are, this table and four chairs, which even though the color is a grayish metal color would actually fit into almost any room setting regardless of whether or not it is modern or traditional in design.
Obelisk

The idea behind this is great, the set can be either in the obelisk form to save space or just left out as an informal seating area. There is only one thing that may be a problem in some rooms, that of height, there are no dimensions available so the actual height of the furniture set when in the obelisk position is not known, but if you consider that the average chair is maybe at least three feet high at the back and the way the obelisk is put together I estimate that the height is going to be over nine feet tall! This may be ok in the high ceiling word of corporate HQ’s but in the average home it may be a bit of a squeeze.

Apart from the slight height problem the set is a great piece of design and could be very practical in the right surroundings, one not so good point is the price of this set $8,922!

Product Page [HGTV]

Source [Shiny Media]

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At last a microwave that can toast bread

by David Allen Leave a Comment

Microwave ovens are great and it must be a fair assumption that almost every household has a microwave oven has and uses one on a regular basis. Yet they have always let us down in the crisping up department, sure you can zap a meal together in a few minutes but the ability to toast has never been there, until now that is.

The good folks over at LG must have heard about this problem and have come up with the LTM9000 a crisp and clean microwave and toaster combination, and in this case the toaster has larger slots which will accommodate chunky fresh bread or burger buns with ease, this is located on the front at the side of microwave door behind a panel which keeps the slots clean when it is not being used.

This is a great idea for space saving not just in cupboard space as a toaster always needs to be put away after use, also counter space, even just for toast in the morning the toaster will take up counter space too, with the LG combo the toaster is always available but does not take up any additional space.

Just by looking at the combo with the cover over the toaster it looks like a plain old stainless steel covered microwave, only on closer examination is it clear that there is a hidden extra.

Features of the LTM9000 Microwave and Toaster combo.

Space Saving Combination Toaster and Microwave Oven.
9 Cu.Ft. Oven Capacity.
High-Tech Stainless Steel, High-Gloss White and Black.
900 Watts Microwave/800 Watts Toaster.
10 Power Levels.
6 Auto Cook Options.
9 Toaster Browning Levels.

The LG toaster and microwave combo will cost around $149 and is ideal for student living.

Product Page [LG USA]

Source [Shiny Shiny]

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Forget USB power, this appliance is cordless

by David Allen Leave a Comment

These days there appears to be a product to plug into the USB port of your computer announced everyday, these are great, but exactly how many USB ports do these people think you have in the average laptop! In any case using the laptop to keep a drink hot or cold, is that really a good idea, and as for USB heated knee pads, the mind boggles.

Of course how people use their laptops is entirely up them, so how about this for an idea, it’s a nice sunny day, so its about time the laptop is dragged outside where working on the laptop is so much nicer, watching the world go by, it’s the ideal setting for bloggers and writers to get those ideas flowing, and why not make a smoothie while your there, no USB needed, this blender from Hammacher is cordless and can do exactly the same as its wired blenders can do.
Takeanywherecordlessblenderjpgthumb

Using rechargeable batteries the blender can be charge through AC or DC power outlets, which makes it very useful for traveling and one charge will produce up to ten gallons of juice or smoothie. Everything about this blender tells you this is for outside living, either camping, fishing or just long car journeys, but this is not necessarily so, in today’s kitchens there is often a lack of space and where there is space it is not always practical to find a power outlet, so cordless appliances do have a place indoors too.

The blender is fitted with stainless bladed which will blend, puree or crush up to 48 ounces of fruit or ice in less than 30 seconds, which for a battery powered device is good though there is not much detail as to the limits of this blender, the only obvious one is how long the charge is and how much it reduces with use, they say thirty seconds, but I suppose most people will use it for longer maybe even up to a couple of minutes, therefore this will reduce the battery time down to a quarter of want the manufacturer states.

Features of the cordless blender;

The rugged, plastic base has an electroplated chrome finish that is weather resistant and the rubberized.

Non-skid bottom ensures stability during use.

The 48-oz. polycarbonate pitcher locks into the base, ensuring a confident grip during transport.

LED indicator lights allow you to monitor battery power.

The one-button control panel ensures ease of operation.

The lid allows for the straining of contents while pouring.

A hidden compartment in the base stores the 12- and 120-volt adapters.

17" H x 7" Diam. (10 lbs.).

The price of the cordless blender is around the $100 mark with an extra $4.95 for special gift wrapping service.

Product Page [Hammacher]

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The iPod becomes very hot stuff indeed

by David Allen Leave a Comment

Forget all the of those small speaker devices that enable you to put iPod into the docking station and listen to your favorite tracks as if it were an old Hi Fi or something similar, well forget that, now there is something a little bit more substantial the iPod Fire place from California based Cal Spas.

This huge piece of furniture is you can call it that, more like a center piece of the room, especially as it will tower above everyone at nearly eight feet tall, now that is what you call a big stereo.

Of course there is a serious side to this, the actual fireplace is a real piece of work and once installed into the desired room, will heat that room as well as providing a place to listen to your favorite music tracks will you and your friends watch the flames of the fire dance around the hearth on the lava rocks that are pilled up in the fire grate.
Ipodfireplace

The fireplace is delivered in sections of about half the height, which makes the transportation and the installation a little bit easier but as always as it use gas, it is absolutely essential that an expert carries out the installation, you cannot afford to mess around with gas.

The fireplace takes the form of an arch and into the uprights is where the speakers (Which are 4”x9”) are placed, they are obvious, but not too obvious as to spoil the whole look of the design. Surprisingly the iPod docking station is located out of view around the side of one of the columns, normally you would expect to see the iPod docking station front and center for all to see, so it quite refreshing to see that although the iPod is catered for, it has not made any direct attempt to change the design of the product to suit the iPod itself.

There are a choice of eight colors which can be matched to meet the decoration of the room that the fireplace is going to end up in, however unfortunately there are no published prices and that is so sad to see, when a company goes out the build a good website, and then puts customers off by not showing how much their products are.

Features;

Burner BTU Output: – 65,000 BTU.
Fire Box: – n/a.
Fire Logs: – Standard with Lava Rocks.
LP/NG: – Convertible.
Ventilation: – Standard Feature.
Cover: – Standard.
Entertainment: – iPod Station with 4"x9" Flat Speakers.
Warranty: – 1 Year Warranty.

Product Page [Cal Spas]

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