Not as good as you may think

I ordered this item on September 14th. Didn't get delivered until October 4th. Way out of the time range that was initially given. Product information made it appear that all you would need to do is supply the Keg and get the CO2 tank filled. WAY OFF. The "regulator" that comes with the Kegerator doesn't regulate ANYTHING its simply an off on switch for the CO2. After spending 2 days wasting beer I took it to my local tavern and confirmed what I already thought. So I had to drive to my local Beer Supply store and spend an additional $50 for an actual regulator. Then I experienced the problem that any regulator you buy doesn't connect to the supplied air hose as it should. Next stop Ace hardware where i purchased new tubing and fittings (another $10 down the drain). Upon affixing my new regulator and air hoses I realized that the beer comes out WAY too fast causing an excessive amount of foam. Last trip to Ace Hardware and got a water flow restricter for another $3 and now at long last i finally have a fully operational kegerator. Cheers and have fun. More detail ...

Great little gas stove

We purchased this stove for a kitchenette we were putting in our home office. It's a very nice little stove with electric ignition. It functions well it was easy to install and burns very cleanly. We've had it for 3 months and used it lightly and everything is great.



Stylistically it's nice to look at as well. Overall I would recommend this product for someone who needs a light use two burner gas stove.



Here are the (minor) things that keep me from giving it a 5 star rating:



1) The on/off gas knobs are a little too close to the main burner. It would have been better if the main (larger) burner was in the rear. The actual layout won't burn the hair on your fingers or anything but it just feels a little tight/warm compared to a full-size stove.

2) The electric ignition is "manual" - you turn on the gas and hold down the knob in order to light the gas. When the gas is lit you release the knob. I would have preferred for the more normal system where you turn the knob all the way to maximum and the electric ignition goes on and then you back the knob off to turn the electric ignition off.

3) The electric ignition must stay on for a few seconds otherwise the gas flame goes right out. This period is noticeably longer than other electric ignition gas stoves I've used.



These three complaints are very minor and maybe other people wouldn't even notice (or perhaps prefer the way at least #2 and #3 behave now versus the alternatives).More detail ...

Great hood but need some improvement

We have installed the hood 3 weeks ago by ourselves. The vent duct we installed is vertical goes via kitchen cabinet attic and roof (We got the hood at Lowes but vent duct roof cap flash were from Homedepot). The instruction is clear easily to follow. I and my wife are very happy. All odors after cooking now are gone.

Pros: This is a great product. Looks very sleek with 4 fan speeds: three first speed (up to 300cfm) was quiet the Boost speed - 430cfm is a bit noisy but that is ok. The halogen light range (3 levels) is great.



The cons are: The inner case is not sealed well so not 100% air escapes outside. We put a a duct tape in the top to prevent air get back to the kitchen. Some air still gets back via two holes in the left and right edges. More detail ...

Impressive performance at a good price

As usual I spent a whole lot of time looking for a replacement dishwasher. Looked at a lot of models and narrowed the choices down to models from Whirlpool Bosch and KitchenAid.



The high end Bosch and Kitchenaid models were great - read nothing but good things (for the most part) about their performance and they are very very quiet. But cost was a factor and I just couldn't see paying more than one grand for a dishwasher (and some are a LOT more than a grand!).



Looked into Whirlpool since they get excellent reliability ratings from the "consumer" magazine. This model caught my eye since it offered a fully-integrated panel (i.e. the controls are hidden) and some nice convenience features. So far it has been a top-notch performer.



The potscrubber feature works very well and is identical to the one on the Kitchenaid (not unexpected since Whirlpool owns Kitchenaid). Love the movable cutlery basket! You can hang it on the door for more room or put it on the front or side of the lower tray. If loaded properly silverware comes out clean no matter where you put the basket. If however you tend to just toss in forks and spoons and not arrange them you'll want to put the basket on the lower rack so it gets more direct spray time.



The interior is light gray with a tile-type pattern. It's plastic so it's not as fancy looking as stainless. But I care more about what the dishwasher looks like from the outside and the stainless steel outside looks great. It also has a unique feature among hidden control models in that the steam vent is on the front of the machine and not the top. That's important to keep the steam from hitting the bottom of your counters. Can't figure out why everyone else doesn't do it that way.



Many different cycles to choose from including regular adaptive (which uses sensors to figure out what to do) high temp and sanitary rinse. Lots of nice little touches such as foldable tines and clips to hold light plastic items so they don't flip over during the wash cycle.



Noise levels are very low. No it is not as whisper quiet as a higher end machine but the sound level is not at all objectionable.



Excellent value - lots of features works well looks great holds a boat-load of dishes and has lots of convenience features. Can't ask for more than that!More detail ...

Quiet and good looking

My handyman installed this without incident. The appearance is sleek and modern complementing a stainless range. The fan is not tool loud and works well for the rear burners. One feature that is a bit disconcerting is that it exhausts some air from the top of the hood to cool the light bulbs. It makes me wonder if this is why it captures less fumes than I would like from the front of the stove.



UPDATE 12/05/09 FIVE stars!***** Based on advice in the first comment on my review I had the installation checked and in fact the baffle was diverting part of the exhaust from the duct to the top front vents as though it were a ductless installation. Now there is no more exhaust air at all coming out of the top front vents. I did a smoke test and the hood now draws from the front burner area. This hood properly installed works as well as it looks--and that is saying a lot. Check R. Parkinson's comment for advice on correct installation of the baffle. More detail ...

So far so good...

**UPDATE***

April 1 2008

Still washing a year later!





**UPDATE***

March 23 2007

Still incredibly happy with this machine. Have it on the stainless steel rolling cart that is the perfect size. A great solution to a small kitchen and a sink full of dishes!





I just got this dishwasher yesterday so I will update this review if things go horribly wrong! Installation was easy -- the hard part was replacing my fancy kitchen faucet with a standard one to accommodate the attachment hose required (but that's a different story).



Within 15 minutes my friend and I had it up on my narrow counter (note that the legs of the machine are spaced at about 18" wide and 15" deep and it's also a bit shy of the 19" depth stated in the specs) hoses tightened faucet adaptor screwed in and dishes loaded. I was able to fit in quite a bit of stuff -- but I doubt that my larger dinner plates will fit since they are significantly oversized. But I usually just use my salad plates as they are oversized as well.



With much excitement I turned on the water and pressed the power button. And away it went! When it was done (maybe 20 minutes???) everything was clean except for the two coffee mugs that had been sitting with coffee for several days (ring of coffee that I had to wipe off). Oh and there was a little chunk of salsa on the plate that had sat out overnight and dried. I wanted to test this little guy with some really dirty dishes. It passed. Oh and there was no water leaking from any part of the machine so apparently we did a good job of tightening the hoses. So after dinner and more dirty dishes I ran it again before going to bed. So nice to not have a sink full of dirty dishes!



Overall the machine is not tiny but not huge. I will be buying a rolling cart to keep in on. I only have about 4 feet of counter space so the goal is to free up the area that was used for drying dishes. It is also fairly quiet -- no louder than a traditional dishwasher (except for the water draining into the sink).



So overall I am very happy with my purchase. Since it only uses 3 gallons of water I think I will be using less water than hand washing. And it also has a 1-year guarantee so that gives me some piece of mind. Oh and the best thing... It's silver.



I ordered thru [...] and it arrived quickly and in perfect condition. So if you're debating over a countertop model and are willing to add a slightly odd looking contraption to your kitchen I'd say give it a shot.



More detail ...

InSinkErator is still the best

This is the 2nd disposal that I have installed. Our old house was on county sewer so we did not need the added benefits of the Septic Assist. It was much more difficult to install than the new one.



The box includes nearly everything you need to install it. The only other things you need to have on hand is the plumber's putty to seal the flange in the sink and some romex to attach the power. I did the job solo but it would have been helpful to have another pair of hands to hold the drain in the sink while I cliped on the locking ring. Now that InSinkErator has the removable rubber seal that slips into the drain from the top mounting the unit to the twist lock under the sink was a breeze. Since the power was already run to an outlet under the sink I had this installed in under an hour.



I don't know how long the bottle of Septic Assist will last but we have used it for a week without a noticable lowering of the contents of the bottle.



Running the unit is much quieter than the old ones. It's not silent but the combination of vibration dampers and insulated chassis makes it quiet enough to talk over. It's more of a hum than a roar.



All in all a relief to have a disposal again at the new house. Of course only time will tell what impact it will have when we need to get the septic pumped. We plan to have it pumped every 2 years in order to keep the risk of overflow to a minimum.More detail ...

Will almost certainly arrive damaged with ground shipping...

... foregoing the two reviews about shipping damage I thought I'd try ordering this product for several reasons:



1) The hi-res dealer images of it from Sanyo.com made it look like one sexy fridge

2) The energy rating was good

3) I knew if the product did arrive damaged Amazon would replace it or refund my money anyway

4) I have Amazon Prime so I figured paying $3.99 for overnight shipping would also make the delivery people think this was a special product since it was going overnight and not being sent across the country via Ground shipping and abused in the process.



Well the product arrived today and initially I thought "This can't be good."



The box was extremely tattered... and the top was ripped open. I also heard rattling as the FedEx man helped me carry it up the stairs. Then he left without even getting a signature. Oh and at my front door the FedEx man just dropped the box on the ground in front of me.



I opened the box upstairs and saw horrible horrible packaging as others have mentioned. The box was all beat up and several of the inch or less thick padding was cracked and damaged.



Luckily the fridge seemed to make it through intact... no dents and it worked. The rattling as I carried it was the compressor... I still don't know if this is normal though.



These fridges are indeed shipped on a pallet you can see that from the shipping sticker from Sanyo to Amazon's Nevada warehouse. Three fridges per pallet. All Amazon does is stick a FedEx/UPS sticker on these boxes and ship them off. If I didn't get this sent overnight I can almost guarantee the fridge would've beat beat to hell going ground from Nevada to New York.



As for this part of the item description

"To keep the refrigerator looking brand new its stainless-steel door has a clear acrylic coating that eliminates fingerprints and is easy to keep clean."



Well it won't be happening for me as the clear acrylic coating came ripped halfway down the upper right corner of the fridge so I really had no choice but to rip all the rest of it off.



The fridge works and it DOES look amazingly sexy but unless you have Prime or want to pay for expedited shipping this will almost certainly come damaged until Amazon decides to start packaging these adequately. And really I don't see why they don't because it's just a hassle for the end customer and an expensive dime on their end to pay for return shipping and then shipping again for a replacement.More detail ...

Will almost certainly arrive damaged with ground shipping...

... foregoing the two reviews about shipping damage I thought I'd try ordering this product for several reasons:



1) The hi-res dealer images of it from Sanyo.com made it look like one sexy fridge

2) The energy rating was good

3) I knew if the product did arrive damaged Amazon would replace it or refund my money anyway

4) I have Amazon Prime so I figured paying $3.99 for overnight shipping would also make the delivery people think this was a special product since it was going overnight and not being sent across the country via Ground shipping and abused in the process.



Well the product arrived today and initially I thought "This can't be good."



The box was extremely tattered... and the top was ripped open. I also heard rattling as the FedEx man helped me carry it up the stairs. Then he left without even getting a signature. Oh and at my front door the FedEx man just dropped the box on the ground in front of me.



I opened the box upstairs and saw horrible horrible packaging as others have mentioned. The box was all beat up and several of the inch or less thick padding was cracked and damaged.



Luckily the fridge seemed to make it through intact... no dents and it worked. The rattling as I carried it was the compressor... I still don't know if this is normal though.



These fridges are indeed shipped on a pallet you can see that from the shipping sticker from Sanyo to Amazon's Nevada warehouse. Three fridges per pallet. All Amazon does is stick a FedEx/UPS sticker on these boxes and ship them off. If I didn't get this sent overnight I can almost guarantee the fridge would've beat beat to hell going ground from Nevada to New York.



As for this part of the item description

"To keep the refrigerator looking brand new its stainless-steel door has a clear acrylic coating that eliminates fingerprints and is easy to keep clean."



Well it won't be happening for me as the clear acrylic coating came ripped halfway down the upper right corner of the fridge so I really had no choice but to rip all the rest of it off.



The fridge works and it DOES look amazingly sexy but unless you have Prime or want to pay for expedited shipping this will almost certainly come damaged until Amazon decides to start packaging these adequately. And really I don't see why they don't because it's just a hassle for the end customer and an expensive dime on their end to pay for return shipping and then shipping again for a replacement.More detail ...

Evolution Excel. Includes Dura Drive induction motor SoundSeal technology (at least 60% quieter) multigrind 3 grind stages versus 1 in a standard disposer 40 oz. stainless steel grind chamber removable quiet collar sink baffle jam sensor circuit aMore detail ...