The reviews for this product seem to be divided into two categories; About two-thirds of the reviewers say the chipper works great, the other third say it jams constantly, doesn’t have enough power, etc. After buying one of these, reading the instruction manual, and using it for a while, I think I may know what’s causing some of the problems. Page 4 of the instruction manual has a table that’s supposed to tell you what size extension cord to use. The table is confusing, but the bottom line is you have to use either a 14 gauge extension cord that’s 25 feet or shorter, or a 12 gauge extension cord that’s 50 feet or shorter (the smaller the gauge, the bigger the wires in the cord; a 12 gauge cord can carry more current than a 14 gauge cord.) This is important, because the chipper draws 14 amps, which is about all the current you can get out of a 120 volt outlet. If you use too small an extension cord, the motor will be way down on power and the chipper’s going to jam. If you use too small an extension cord for too long, the motor’s eventually going to burn out. If you’re buying a new extension cord, it should have the wire gauge on the package. It should say, for example “12 Gauge” or “12 AWG” (I believe AWG stands for American Wire Gauge.) If you’re using an existing extension cord, if you look closely at the cord the gauge should be stamped into the plastic exterior in small letters. It will say something like 12/3 AWG. The first number is the wire gauge. Don’t go by the appearance of your extension cord, there are companies that make big, industrial-looking orange extension cords that actually have small copper wires inside. If you’re chipping stuff that’s more than 50 feet from an electrical outlet, don’t plug in another extension cord, move the stuff to the chipper.

Thicker brnaches from the side. Do not turn off the device until you are confident all material you inserted has been expelled or you may not be able to start it again. Regadless, expect to need to release jams even with the best handling.

I understood thanks to the other reveiwers not to expect this to handle limbs over 1″ in diameter and the shoot opening on the machine helps keep you honest since the oval opening is only wide enough for 1″ branches. Yes you need to hang on so the limb does not feed in to fast, but it does a wonderful job. The breaker tripped one time out of several hours of chipping and that was when I first started before I got the hang of how fast to feed the stock.

Finally, and it works. After two false starts — an electronic chipper and an electronic shredder — I finally received the chipper and shredder in one machine. It does the job! At last a product that meets my desire to shred the leaves and small branches that I am ready to mulch from my 6th story balcony garden.

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My Neato XV-11 is the most awesome robotic vacuum cleaner on the market today. With RPS technology, to a scheduler it really cleans my house methodically with out missing any spots. I know I sound like an infomercial but all of this is true, it has really good suction power and I never have to be at home to vacuum anymore. Just like the Jetsons Rosie the robot and the robot vacuum, the Neato makes me feel like i’m in the future!!!!!!!!!!!

I am the owner of 4 Roomba vacuum cleaner robots (4 different versions since September 2002) from IRobot. I received my Neato Robotic vacuum cleaner on the second week of August 2010 and my Roomba looks like toys compare to Neato Robotics. The vacuum is strong, my pet’s hair doesn’t get stuck in the brush (I didn’t have to clean it once and I used to clean my Roomba brush after every run), it is fast (entire room in 10 minutes compare to 50 minutes with Roomba). It doesn’t hit walls and furnitures like my Roomba does. This is what I called Automation at your service.

Regular car maintenance may not always include a check of your air-conditioner. Your mechanic will be responsible for the major servicing activity that your car requires, but your air-conditioner may need a little personal attention.

These days we have all become used to the comfort that air-conditioning provides, especially in our cars. Which of us have not had to jump into a hot car only to burn the backs of our thighs after the vehicle has been parked in the blazing sun? It’s at times like these that we really come to value and effective air-conditioning system.

Imagine how distraught you would feel when you discover that your air-conditioning has failed and you are destined to travel on the vehicle with temperatures approaching 40°C. That’s why it is worthwhile looking after your car air-conditioner properly.

Here are three super tips for keeping your air-conditioner in tiptop condition so you can enjoy cool driving conditions.

* Refer to the manual that came with your car and read the specifications of your air-conditioning system. Here you will generally find parts which require regular maintenance and occasional replacement. This will include the compressor, the evaporator, hoses and belts and the troubleshooting guide will indicate tell-tale signs that your system needs servicing. Forewarned is forearmed in this regard, so reading the manual makes sense.
* Irrespective of how your system is running, make sure you have it serviced at least once a year, usually in spring. A quick check will highlight any pending problems and a repair job before summer will be the most important factor in keeping your cool.
* In the cooler months where your air-conditioner is not generally used, turn it on for at least 10 minutes once a month to keep the hoses from hardening. Make sure you turn the thermostat to the coldest temperature and that you run it at the highest fan speed.
* Run your car’s defrost for 5 to 10 minutes after you have been using your air-conditioner for an extended period. This will dry out the evaporator core which is a good maintenance step for your air-conditioner.

The older your vehicle is the more likely you are to experience a slow leakage of refrigerant. You need to have your system checked by a specialist because leakages can be extremely difficult to detect. Make sure you take your vehicle to a reputable servicing agent because this specialist attention can become quite expensive.

Get at least three quotes before you decide to do anything.

Using the air-conditioner during winter, especially to defog your windscreen, is a useful way of keeping your system in tiptop condition. Frigidaire FRA054XT7

*At first, I was extremely impressed with the ASUS bamboo laptop. It looked stunning when I first saw it in person at Best Buy. That was before I pulled the trigger on Amazon.com. However, after finally testing out my new laptop, I found a cosmetic defect. Asus clearly has very poor quality control, given that the laptops are Made in China. The nice shiny metal trim was peeling. It was simply ridiculous that a new computer should already have such defects. I was frustrated and irritated, but willing to get an exchange from Amazon for a second try.

*Great! Now I wait another weekend and a few days for my second Asus laptop. Splendid, the webcam does not work. That’s great. The first one had cosmetic issues. Now, the second one has hardware issues. The laptop detected a usb device, but it did not recognize the webcam. I tried installing the various 4 drivers posted on Asus’s poorly organized website, but to no avail. I was just really upset and sad. Then, I decided to give it one last shot and called up Asus’s technical support team. The “technician” was very unprofessional, giving me little to no advice. He just waited on the line while I tried to trouble shoot the laptop myself. He told me he couldn’t see the drivers on the website from his end, so I would be on my own. Then, he wanted me to set up a service repair which would take 2 weeks to get the laptop repaired. I had had enough. I was through.

*I called up Amazon’s customer service and they were very nice and apologetic. They offered to take care of me and offer me a full refund. I already shipped back everything and am waiting for my refund. I went ahead and bought the Sony Vaio EA 14 inch series instead. Sony has a promotion right now in which you can get the laptop for only $849.99+tax. That’s a better deal compared to the Asus.

*I think it’s just entirely ridiculous that two “new” asus laptops were both lemons, progressively getting worse. Buyer Beware, Stay Away. I don’t know why there are so many rave reviews about this laptop.

Just received the laptop today. Everything on it so far seems real quality. I’m loving the keyboard and the bamboo design is real decent. Only gripe I have so far is that the mouse pad button is pretty difficult to click with one hand, like you’d have to hit the extreme corners to manage. I’m upgrading from a pretty old desktop so I don’t necessarily have any modern laptop to compare it to. But 5 stars for me. Can’t wait til I download CS5 and see how that goes.

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Once you stop to consider that the vast majority of impact driving tasks are for the most part, intermittent and spread out around a job site, a cordless Makita impact driver makes perfect sense. The problem for most people though, is they just assume that AC power is required to torque down larger nuts and bolts.

Lithium-Ion Batteries Make a Huge Difference

Nothing could be further from the truth. Also now with the advent of lithium-ion batteries, impact drivers can now carry the juice to keep them going up to four times longer. You see LI batteries charge faster and hold far more electricity than Ni Cads.

The Model BTD142HW 18 Volt Cordless Maktita Impact Driver

Makita’s model bhp452hw 18-volt cordless impact is a perfect example of just how far things have come. At 5 ¾” and 2.8 pounds it’s actually smaller, lighter and more compact than a standard AC powered impact yet it features strong four pole variable speed motor that packs 1,280 pounds of torque and maxes out at 3,200 rpm.

Charge the Battery in 15 Minutes

If you’ve had to wait around for batteries on your other cordless tools to charge in the past, you can forget about that with LI batteries, and Makita’s new state of the art charger. It’s rapid charge setting charges the battery on this impact in 15 minutes, and because it’s lithium-ion, and has no memory effect, rapid charge doesn’t harm it in the least bit.

Impact Driving is Not a Fun Job

Of course if you’ve done any amount of work with one of these power tools, you know all too well how hard driving larger nuts and bolts can be on the hands and wrists. After a long day it can leave them aching, and over the long run can lead to more serious problems, like tendinitis.

Super Comfortable Ergonomic Pistol Grip

This is precisely the reason why the Makita impact driver is now made with pistol grip ergonomic handles. They fit your hand like a glove while your fingers wrap comfortably into their individual grooves. It all just makes running these tools so much easier.

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It is in exercising that our muscles are strengthened and our bones are kept in a strong state. There are many ways a person can exercise; walking alone is already a form of exercise. But there are some people who prefer to perform their exercise inside their homes due to some reasons. Today’s technology provides us the option to have an exercise inside our homes.

Treadmill – is one of the most famous equipment used for exercising. Though the original reason why treadmills were made was because to reform offenders in prison, many ordinary people these days are using the said equipment to stay fit and healthy.

Treadmills are great to use by people who does not want to run, walk or jog outside because of some reasons (bad weather, dangerous neighborhood, unwanted attention and other reasons).

If a person does not want to join a gym session or does not have the time, he can therefore use a treadmill right at his own home.

What’s great about using a treadmill for exercising is that the consequences of having ankle, knee and lower back injury is very low due to some shock absorption technology applied on the machine. Unlike running on ordinary surface, walking on treadmill is less stressful to your joints and other body parts.

Elliptical Trainer – is another indoor exercise machine. The device is similar to that of treadmill which simulates the action of walking, running or jogging without causing too much pressure to the joints of the body, which therefore reduces the risk of injuries.

An elliptical trainer machine works the user’s upper and lower body part out. The elliptical trainer is more of a cardiovascular workout machine than working out the body’s muscle.

There are three types of elliptical trainer, and these trainers are classified by the position of its motor. The oldest type of elliptical trainer is the Rear Drive type; with Front Drive type next and the latest Center

Drive type elliptical trainer.

If a user wants to improve the way he is exercising, he can use the elliptical trainer machine without holding on to machine’s handgrips. It is on this position that the core muscles of the person are held in a state of constant tension therefore raising the level of exercise the person is doing, this also helps promote better body posture.

Exercising should not be taken for granted, it should be given proper care. Our body should be taken care, it should be fed, give it an exercise and proper rest. Doing the right kind of exercise in the right place plays a very crucial role in maintaining a good health.

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Excellent Radar Detector,

Have used the 9500i for about a month now, and appears to be a lot more sensitive than my “top of the line” Bell detector I bought 3 years ago. I still like Bell, but the GPS features of this unit made it a must have.

Pros:
* Wow!, I have detected constant scans, instant, and pop radars, sometimes a mile before I see the patrol car. I almost think I have a false scan, but when I see the patrol car I know the 9500i was not lying to me. (One time I got hit, so I shut it down, the guy behind me really didn’t like that, so I let him by and he passed me like I was standing still, he got nailed, see, radar detectors can be fun).
* Allows you to see your speed on the detector, so you can use it as a “heads up” display.
* Allows you to lock out false signals from a certain area. (Nice, but see Cons).

Cons:
* A Lot more false scans than my Bell unit. On the upside, you can lock these out, so basically it’s “trial and error” until you determine you have a false signal and decide to lock it out.
* At it’s lowest brightness level, it’s still to bright (compared to my Bell). I don’t like advertising to everyone around that I have a radar detector, cops really don’t like them, and will pull you over for something else if they can’t get you speeding.

Note: If your alone on the road, speeding, and get scanned, there is no radar detector in the world that will save you. The cop units are good, some are very good. Your only hope is that when you detect a scan, the cop is scanning another vehicle, not you, if it is you, forget it, your getting a ticket. Just thought I would throw this in here if anyone thought radar detectors are a perfect solution.

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The bike arrived in great condition. I have never had a problem with Amazon’s shipping so this was not surprising.

The bike was very easy to assemble, as other reviewers have said. It took about an hour, with the help of my ten year old, hyperactive son. Instructions were easy to follow and all of the tools and hardware you need are provided, which is a very nice touch. The bike is sturdy and well built.

The bike’s computer console is easy to read, and once you get a quick read through of the operating instructions, it is very easy to use.

I like the variety of workouts you can get with this machine. You can use one of the presets (six of these), program one yourself, or go by heart rate. Or just hop on and ride. I also like the sensors in the handle bar grips.

Very nicely done, Schwinn!!

**It is now July 2009 and my bike is still going strong. There are four pretty rambunctious kids and a husband that all like to hop on and give it a whirl. The handle bar sensors are still accurate, which I tested several times by just taking my pulse rate the old fashioned way(finger on the pulse for 10 seconds). The seat moves smoothly from one position to another with no problems, and since the kids think that is “wicked” it gets moved up and down many times.

The only recommendation I would make is that the display screen should be back lit. The screen is easy to read , as I said in my earlier review, in regards to the size of the graphics. However I have found that it is harder to read without a light shining on it from behind me. Maybe they could put a button on the side that you can hit when you need the back light, like they put on some watches, and then it turns back off after a few seconds.

I am still loving it. (By the way, I have lost an inch off my waist since I started riding and it is pretty much the only thing I have been doing for extra exercise.)

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I researched toaster ovens for quite some time and found a few that met my requirements. I did not want a convection capability because it was just something else to break. I was also space constrained by the location on our kitchen counter where we place the toaster oven. You get a lot of Toaster oven in a small space, check out the dimensions. Previously we had a DeLonghi unit for about 15 years and it was great. For the longest time I wanted to purchase a new one to match our other appliances and my wife thought that one was just fine; I had to wait until she thought there might be a problem.

The day finally came and I looked for a good counter top oven with the capability to toast, bake, broil, etc. There were a number of units that most likely would have lasted a long long time. And, knowing I’d have to live with it for all of that and more I looked and looked. Understanding that background and that I read all the reviews on all the products here goes.

We got this unit, opened the packag and put it together in 3 minutes. I didn’t even read the instructions at first. I plugged it in, reset it and went through the functions one at a time. (My wife was reading the instructions at that time). She said, “you have to preheat it for 15 minutes before using.”. So we put the DeLonghi back on the counter and toased our Bagels for breakfast. After that we did the burn in. This was important because, as they said, there were some “smells” that came from burning off the residue from manufacturing.

I did not find the controls “flimsy”, but they also don’t feel like they were made for an industrial application. They are electronic controls (everything here is controlled by the electronics) and as such they don’t have a mechanical feel because they are not mechanical controls. I think they will last a very long time.

All the functions work as described and are pretty simple to use. My wife was using it in less than 10 minutes and she has a hard time with electronic items.

I like dark toast and my wife likes it medium: we just took her’s out early. The controls are accurate; you have to put it on the higher number to get dark toast.
The timer is not loud, but it is loud enough unless you have the TV blaring and are in the other room. I like how it counts down cooking time and the on/off button.
The function buttons are nice (like a microwave) because they simplify how to cook different things. Just like you’d expect.
Bottom line, I paid twice as much for this as my next choice and since I’ll have to live with it forever; I am glad I did.
We already have avoided using the big oven a few times; we dont’ use the oven much anyway. ( the oven has a nice feel to it and the door doesn’t slam shut unless you slam it)
It is worth the extra money and if you want convection get the next model up; that is also worth it. We have convection on the big oven.

OH YEAH, it matches all the other Pro Appliances in our kitchen; right down to the nice handle.

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Great machine. There recipe is a little runny, I suggest using the shave switch to put in more ice. A little high for under the cabinet. But a great machine

Have used the margaritaville machine several times now and it works exactly like it said it would. Would agree with other comments regarding the height of it. It will not fit under the kitchen cabinets. Glad I purchased the less expensive one because we would not want a larger machine and I don’t think it would do anything more. Too bad it doesn’t go in the dishwasher either but so far it is very easy to rinse and dry.

Our goal in buying the Margaritaville was to be able to make all kinds of icy drinks. It does this very well. What we discovered is that it can also be used to make snow cones.

There are two components. An ice shaver that will turn ice cubes into small shavings, and a blender. The ice shaver sends the crushed ice into the blender for processing. Each side has it’s own switch to operate them independently, or there is a button that will turn your concoction into a slushie.

Although the product is made for personal use, it appears to be made well enough to make multiple drinks at a time.

It is a good idea to clean it when you use it, so be careful wiping out the top portion; or you will get cut on the ice shaver. Otherwise, it it not too hard to clean.

If you put in too much ice compared to liquid, the blender will freeze and stop working. It does not seem to hurt the motor, but you have to finish mixing by hand. So make sure you mix up the stuff you put in the blender before you put in too much crushed ice.

We have used our machine to make margaritas, shaved ice with fresh lime squeezed over it, and various fruit smoothies using fresh and canned fruit. It has been a great way to get through a hot summer.

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The cooker seems completely top notch.

The only problem, and I consider it a significant problem, is the translated owner’s manual for we who speak English. I don’t know, but translation into whatever other language uses the symbol/script characters in writing (Japanese? Korean?) may have a somewhat fractured translation as well. I can see no excuse for the translated owner’s manual to not have been revised into a more clear translation, because the email customer relations promotional things I receive from Zojirushi seem to have been written by someone who speaks clear English as their native tongue. Don’t get me wrong. I have nothing at all against Asian people, really, not a thing, but the owner’s manual for any product should be immediately clear to someone who has never owned or operated the product at this quality bracket.

I have always enjoyed rice from restaurants and the like, but I could never get the same consistency myself. This rice cooker is perfect for making ‘sticky rice’ that goes best with Chinese food and especially with chopsticks. I have also taken up making some simple sushi and rice balls for dinner on the weekends.

It feels a little smaller than I was expecting, taking up a touch less space than a toaster oven. The instructions are simple and the bowl inside has lines to show where to fill with water. Overall, it makes perfect rice with little fuss.

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