This is in the same spirit as the movie reviews, intended for tangible items that someone may be considering for their next purchase. I'll post a few to kick it off:


Dyson DC-17 Animal
Prior to owning our Dyson, we had a Eureka Boss. It seemed to do ok, even with 2 cats. With the addition of lilman to our family, we became concerned that he might have an allergy to the cats. I had been eyeing the Dysons for quite some time, and this was the perfect excuse to buy one. Shopping hint: the prices are the same wherever you go, but you can save 20% at Bed Bath & Beyond by using one of those coupons they're always sending in the mail. I think the sale price was $500, but we paid $400 pre-tax.

I quickly noticed a difference when using the Dyson. For example, it has 2 motors. One to provide suction, and one to drive the beater. Our old vacuum had one motor that did both. This Dyson beats the carpet so much it makes Rodney King look like a sissy. The cool thing is that the beater brush turns off automatically when you return it to the upright position so you can leave it there running without worrying about it tearing up the carpet. Also, there is a button you can press to turn off the beater brush so you can use it on hard floors.

The commercials for this thing always talking about the great suction. It's not "unbelievable" suction. My shop vac in the garage has more suction. I would say it has really good suction that doesn't degrade, and that's the important thing. Being an engineer, I am a very methodical guy. I always vacuum first in the basement, then I do the main floor, then I do the upstairs. When I first used the Dyson, I noticed that in the basement, it picked up a normal amount of stuff. The dirt tank was about 1/4 full. I emptied it and continued to the main floor, which completely filled the tank. When I got upstairs, I had to unload the tank twice! It was obvious that the old Eureka with the bag was plugging and losing suction as I went along. With the dyson, I was picking up carpet powder that we had sprinkled 2 years ago!

It is incorrect to say that the dyson NEVER loses suction. It will lose suction, especially with a lot of cat hair over a long period of time. It's a simple process to disassemble the tank and clean out the little holes. I've only had to do it twice. It has a hepa filter that you have to rinse off twice a year too. Overall, it's a very low-maintenance machine.

It's really easy to empty the dirt from the tank, and it makes you realize how much you were spending on vacuum bags!

The only thing different between the Animal model, which is purple, and the standard model, which is yellow, is that the Animal comes with some accessories. The only useful accessory is the air-powered handbrush. This thing is amazing, and is so useful cleaning off the couches, beds, and especially the stairs. The other cool thing with the dyson is how you can go from a regular upright vacuum to using a handheld on the hose with minimal interruption. The hose is so long that I can clean our flight of stairs and leave the vacuum at the bottom.

The only downside that I've noticed is the lack of instructions that came with the vacuum. I think Lilmama loves it because the Dyson makes me love vacuuming. I think she's touched it maybe twice!

Overall: 5 out of 5 stars.






Roomba

Lilmama bought me a roomba several years ago as a Christmas present. At the time I thought it was the coolest thing. It doesn't replace regular vacuuming entirely. Instead, it reduces the frequency of regular vacuuming. I found it did a decent job on the carpets, mainly just cleaning the surface dirt. It really did a good job on the hard floors, though. It wasn't as noisy as a regular vacuum, but it was still loud enough that you couldn't watch TV without turning the volume way up.

I was pretty consistent with a schedule. In the morning, I would take the roomba from its charger, and put it in a bedroom and turn it on before going to work. It was neat coming home to a clean room! That night, I'd put it back on the charger. I found that I was able to reduce my vacuuming needs from once a week to once every 2 weeks.

One regular inconvenience was that because we had cats, I had to completely disassemble the darn thing and unclog all the cat hair about every other day. This was recommended by the instructions. The other inconvenience was that it took a while to "roomba-proof" a room. You had to make sure it couldn't get somewhere it could get stuck or tangled up in cords. Despite these two inconveniences for the first year, the roomba was golden.

The problems with the roomba began after the first year. The constant disassembling and cleaning of the brushes began to take it's toll. I realize that this was a design flaw in my particular model, because in later models, they replaced screws with simple snaps. My required routine of assembly and disassembly was wearing out the screws and the plastic threads. In order to reduce the need for this cleaning, we limited the roomba to just hard floors only.

Also, the batteries on my model only lasted about a year, and they cost $90 to replace. At this rate, the roomba was getting expensive fast, and the inconveniences and limited use were outweighing the novelty. Plus, I realized that I could vacuum a room in the time it took me to roomba-proof one.

Overall, I give it 3 out of 5 stars. They have a long way to go with design and battery issues before this becomes a serious cleaning tool. I couldn't imagine owning one of these with cats or small children in the house (who would love to either try and ride it or feed it legos).

The Stanley wall scraper is one of the most useful tools I've had in a while. Quite a bit stiffer than a standard putty knife, the wall scraper can be used for just about any application where a wide, stiff blade comes in handy. I've used mine to refinish furniture, scrape my outdoor grill, apply plaster of paris, and scrape mud dobber nests from the eaves of my house. This thing beats the cheap plastic ones by a mile, though it runs about $6.

Most recently, I've been using it as an ice scraper in my truck. Tiring of the plastic ice scrapers that seem to never be stout enough for the job, the wall scraper powers through the thickest ice, leaving the windshield clean enough to drive through.

I purchased mine many years ago and the tool shows no sign of wear and tear. All in all, I'd give it a 5 star rating.



Tali

I am loving this whole idea of these reviews. I'm thinking though about moving them to the Community news and event section. My thinking is that people who are not members could see the reviews and even leave their own. Maybe, big maybe I know, it would cause someone to want to keep coming back and join to see what else there was.

Any thoughts ? Any negatives that I'm not thinking about ?

No problem here.

You're the boss

We have a Dyson also and I would have to say it's been the best vacuum we have ever owned. Lightweight, cleans great and like TNT said the design is very good. I like that there isn't a bag and you don't have to turn anything upside down and shake it to empty it. It's just easy. I would recomend it to anyone.

can you hear me now is what the phone is called.... sorry, i could not resist! xo

Wow, this is cool! Great idea, TNT. My husband and I have thought a lot about getting a Roomba but keep putting it off. I guess we lucked out! We also have 2 cats, but so far have just managed with a cheap vacuum. When we start trying for kids, we're going to be a LOT more conscious of having very clean floors (while we want them to look nice now, neither of us tend to roll around on the carpet with our tongues hanging out--yet). We'll have to look into a Dyson.

"...neither of us tend to roll around on the carpet with our tongues hanging out--yet"

Lmao. I just realized how dirty that whole thing sounded about rolling around on the carpet and trying for kids... Geez. I just meant kids do that kind of thing. No, really.

Right. Oh we understand Em, really we do.

Can't stop laughing. How embarrassing. And funny. Sorry guys. Back to general audience content...

ROFL-WOTHO

With Our Tongues Hanging Out?!!?!



Tali, I just laughed so hard, I'm going to skip working out tomorrow.

The Bunn GRX Home Brewer

Having wanted a Bunn coffee maker for years, I finally got one this past Christmas. I have the GRX model, which is a 10-cup maker.

What makes Bunn home brewers different is the wait time. I find that when coffee drinkers want coffee, they want it now, and that's what the Bunn offers. It will brew 10 cups in under 3 minutes. I personally usually make about 5 cups, so after I pour the water in, I have delicious, fresh coffee in no time. This is achieved from the onboard water-heater that Bunn coffee makers have. The water in the tank is kept at the perfect brewing temperature, insuring that the coffee's flavor is at a premium.

And that is the most notable feature of the Bunn. The flavor. It's no wonder that Bunn coffee makers are world famous. The coffee is delicious. It's like getting the perfect cup of coffee everytime, almost instantly.

The only drawback is the price. You can expect to pay around $100 dollars for this model. Considering other coffee makers can run as high as $30, you really aren't paying too much for a Bunn that will deliver hot, delicious coffee for years and years to come.

Without any hesitation, I give the Bunn GRX Home Brewer a 5 star rating.



Talimook

wow, i do not drink coffee, but that sounds like something a tea drinker needs....that hot water ready in an instant. the cheap ones do not heat the water hot enough ... what temp is the perfect for coffee? I need boiling over the bags so i better stay with my kettle

I use the Bunn to make tea too.I just use the gallon size lipton bag from Sams Club then run it thru the Bunn.Split it into two i/2 gal.pitchers the fill the rest of the way with water.Add sugar and lemon.My husband drinks lots of tea so this is the fastest way for me.

I got a Keurig coffee maker for Christmas. For those who love good coffee there is a lot to be said for this machine. It makes one cup at a time from these little coffee cups and the flavor is fantastic, perhaps the best coffee I have ever had. You can order the cups in different flavors for those who like the flavored coffee. I'm not much on that but I do find I like the Hazlenut
quite a bit. Of all the different coffees I have tried with it though, I have never got a bad cup. The downside is the cost. The little cups cost about 13 dollars for 24 cups and if you like coffee like I do that adds up pretty fast. It does come with a permanent cup that you can put your own coffee into but that gets old pretty fast too. You have to rinse it every time you make a cup and put your one ts of coffee in it before you make the next cup. The other drawback is that you have to order the pre-made cups from Keurig which takes about 4 to 5 days to get delivered.

I would say this is a great machine for those that like 1 or 2 cups in the morning but an expensive machine for those that drink a pot maybe two on a weekend day.

So have you seen these?



It's a cordless, electric lawn mower! Cut down on the noise, and the pollution of gas mowers while you enjoy cutting your lawn.

Enjoy cutting your lawn???
Who writes this stuff????

Ya gotta admit though, it's about as sleek looking as an Italian sports car.

Talimook

Sometimes I prefer the noise of a roaring motor to mask the sounds of a frog meeting his untimely end.

yuck..!!!!! and you like frogs!!!

I like smart frogs. The ones that say to themselves " Oh look, a mower !!! We better get the hell out of here. "