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Tag: Appliances

  • Small Appliances Crucial For Dorm Room Success

    It’s early August and in many areas of the country college campuses are clogged with moving vans and smaller vehicles, professors are returning from their summer off, and the fall semester at many Universities and colleges is just beginning.

    Amidst all the talk about academics and college athletics is a decision that faces many new and returning students this semester—how to maximize the amount of space in dorm rooms that Universities and colleges offer.

    In the Bay Area of San Francisco, California, 7 On Your Side (a team associated with an ABC affiliate) teamed up with Consumer Reports to list three crucial small appliance additions to your dorm room. The items selected were based not only on utility but also on how well they maximized space. Dorm rooms are small. No full-sized double-decker refrigerators here.

    Here are the top three small appliances crucial for dorm room success.

    1. The Compact Refrigerator. Known colloquially as the “mini-fridge,” these compact refrigerators serve the importance of storing food—healthy or otherwise—for convenience when the dining halls are closed. Think 2 a.m. snacks or meals after a night out on the town. Many are not energy efficient and only three out of the 26 tested by Consumer Reports made the cut. They’re all from the company Frigidaire and prices start at $200. The good news is they keep food fresh while conserving the much-needed space in a dorm room.

    2. Microwave. College students are not known for their thick pocketbooks and microwaves provide the option of heating up frozen foods that are both tasty and cost-effective. Hot Pockets. Lean Cuisines. Lentils and Teriyaki sauce. Whatever your preference is, having something to warm up your food is nearly as crucial as the compact refrigerator. 7 On Your Side lists a $150 model Kenmore as a great buy and Consumer Reports rated a GE model at $210 a best buy as well.

    3. Coffee-maker. These splendid devices take up scant space and offer the possibilities of an endless stream of caffeine, necessary for a late night studying, or a perk up in the morning, or for an afternoon jump. They are also less costly than Starbucks and other local coffee shops, which sometimes run up to $2 for a cup of unflavored coffee. 7 On Your Side lists Mr. Coffee’s drip coffeemakers, which start around $40, as a strong purchase because, among other reasons, they consistently heat up to the perfect temperature.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Best Juicers: A Few Top Appliances And User Reviews

    Juicing has become a popular way to consume nutrients naturally and quickly.

    But what are the basic health benefits of it? Well, if you’re a green drink veteran, you likely already know and can share some first-hand experiences. For those new to the world of frothy emerald liquid, maybe you’ve heard of or seen great results. Among the reported benefits include: getting in that daily serving of fruits and veggies (6-8), absorbing nutrients better (with less digestion), and strengthening your immune system.

    Whether that sells you – or you’re just looking to get dad a last minute gift to encourage him to leave his golden arches for (literal?) greener pastures, there are various types you can choose. While a “best” juicer is going to be subjective, you might find the best juicer for your needs by perusing some of the top few that seem to be fan favorites – along with a few user demos.

    Breville JE98XL Juice Fountain Plus 850-Watt Juice Extractor

    This counter top juicer has an extra-wide 3-inch feeder chute, 850 watt dual speed motor, a powerful stainless-steel cutting disc, large-capacity pulp collector, and dishwasher-safe parts. While the list price is around $200.00, you can lop off about $50 if you buy it at Amazon. The following video review takes you through the process, while being pretty thorough and objective.


    2. Omega J8006 Nutrition Center Juicer – Black and Chrome

    A masticating juicer (AKA cold-press/less heat to disturb the enzymes), this one has been described as easy-to-use with a powerful motor. The yield of juice you’ll get is high and there’s an auto pulp-ejection function for continuous juicing. The Omega uses a dual-stage juicing system. Some say the whole process is a little long to pump out the good stuff – but if its quiet operation (versus some of the noisier ones) and higher nutritional value is worth your time, it might be for you. The list price is $390.00 and if you get it through Amazon, the discount price is $257.99.

    Here’s a review for the Omega:

    3. Breville 800JEXL Juice Fountain Elite 1000-Watt Juice Extractor

    This one has 2 speed controls (high at 13,000 RPM and low at 6,500 RPM). The Breville has die-cast steel housing, a stainless-steel micromesh filter, and a titanium-plated cutting disk. Also, with its 3-inch circular feed hole, you can fit in whole fruits and vegetables (less chopping!). The list price is around $399.00 – but Amazon’s deal drops that figure down to $299.00.

    The video below was made by a dude just beginning his health journey. I thought I’d share because it offers a pretty good demo of how the Breville works. Also, this gentleman’s progress since this video has been extremely impressive. He lost about 100 lbs just a few months after uploading this and now lives a healthy, active life. Well done, sir!

    Good luck on your health journeys!

    Image via Youtube

  • LG Unveils New Line Of Smart Home Appliances At CES

    LG Unveils New Line Of Smart Home Appliances At CES

    If you thought that there was no more room for smart devices, LG has just the thing.

    Today at CES, LG unveiled their smart home appliance line that uses their smart technology called LG THINQ. The appliances include a smart oven, a smart refrigerator, a smart washer/dryer combo and a smart robotic vacuum cleaner.

    LG is pushing five new technologies in their home appliance line – Smart Grid, Smart Diagnosis, Smart Access, Smart Adapt and Food Management. LG claims that this software will let homeowners control and manage refrigerators, washing machines, ovens and robotic vacuum cleaners via a smart network.

    lg

    “We’re excited to add home appliances to our largest ever line-up of total LG innovations ever to be shown at CES,” Young-ha Lee, President and CEO of LG Electronics Home Appliance Company, said. “By drawing on LG’s latest IT and mobile technology, our smart appliances promise to be real game changers, offering a big leap forward in convenience and efficiency.”

    Smart Grid programs washing machines to do the washing at the most cost-effective times. The oven also taps into the smart grid to offer cost options that take into account the duration and electrical cost of the cooking. The refrigerators can also adjust their temperatures to take advantage of decreased energy rates.

    Smart Diagnosis will take notice of anything that goes wrong with a home appliance. Take for example if the refrigerator door is left open, the appliance will notify the owner on its display panel. In later models, this will be done via Wi-Fi and send a message to the owner’s smartphone or tablet PC.

    Smart Diagnosis will also be able to pinpoint exactly what’s wrong in case of a serious malfunction. It will allow service technicians to know exactly what’s wrong to save time and money.

    Smart Access allows users to oversee their household chores regardless of their location. Through smartphones or tablet PCs, they can see the time left on food in the oven or check the temperature and contents of the refrigerator. It will even allow users to instruct their robotic vacuum cleaner to clean or watch over the house.

    Smart Adapt downloads the latest options for the appliances, included pre-programmed recipes or washing cycles that best fit the user’s lifestyle. Food management goes hand-in-hand with Smart Adapt by letting users keep track of everything in the fridge and when it expires.

    These smart appliances came out of nowhere and LG surprised everybody with this announcement. After the initial shock value sank in though, it makes sense. These are all excellent ideas that will make people’s lives easier. Now we just wait until our appliances start refusing orders and begin the robot revolution.

  • Tweeting From Your Refrigerator? There’s an App For That.

    How does a WiFi connected home appliance sound? One that would, theoretically, allow you tweet updates of your frequent trips to the fridge through the use of a computer touchscreen? Is so, Samsung has just application-powered refrigerator with your name on it.

    And no, this is not a joke, either. What we have is Samsung’s WiFi-enabled, embedded touchscreen-powered refrigerator, and as you can see from the lead image, the appliance features an touchscreen preloaded with various apps, including ones for Twitter and Weatherbug. If you’d like to show off your Picasa library while fetching a refreshing beverage for your guest, you can do that too, provided the guest follows you to the fridge.

    In fact, there are two refrigerator models featuring the app-loaded touchscreen. The apps, according to the specifications PDF, are as follows:

    – Memo
    – Epicurious Recipes
    – Picasa Photos
    – WeatherBug
    – Calendar
    – AP News
    – Pandora
    – Twitter

    Here’s a closer look at Samsung’s touchscreen:

    Samsung Refrigerator

    Because the computing device is WiFi-enabled, it avoids the necessity of needing to be plugged into to a router or other hardwired connection. Samsung’s product description shows their intention behind the design:

    Check the morning weather, browse the web for recipes, explore your social networks or leave notes for your family—all from the refrigerator door.

    Is such a feature even necessary? Are people even at their refrigerators long enough to “miss” their electronic connection to the outside world, increasing the demand for such a feature? Do people not carry their smartphones when going to the fridge for some delicious pizza? Apparently, I’m missing the spirit of such an innovation.

    If you’d like yet another connected device in your home, this time, in the form of a kitchen appliance, you’re going to have to pay a pretty penny to get it. The cheapest model refrigerator (30 cubic feet, side-by-side doors) goes for $2699, while the four-door model goes for $3499. That’s a hefty price to pay for yet another connected device, especially when all smartphones and tablet computers can do accomplish the same tasks, as well as many others, for a fraction of a price.

    But then again, you wouldn’t be able to say you have an app-powered refrigerator, which is probably the reason most people would purchase such an appliance to begin with.

    H/t to Uncrate for pointing this out.