Discount NewAir AC-10000E Portable Air Conditioner

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $497.47
Sale Price: $399.95
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I rated this 3 stars which Amazon defines as "It's OK" which is how I feel about it :)

* Size/Weight/Move-ability 10/10 -I think the size and weight are fine, the unit is heavy (~50lbs) but not so heavy that you can't lift it from the box, it does have handles on the side to grab, and rolls in any direction on casters. It's not very large, about the size of a modern dehumidifier or mini-fridge

* Front Panel/Controls 5/10 -The controls are straight forward and easy to use, the exception being that when you're in the "AUTO" mode you can not adjust the fan speed, it's a little odd. The big problem, and why I rate it 5/10 is that there are six SUPER BRIGHT LEDs on the front of the unit, as far as I can tell they serve no purpose whatsoever, they are simply there and they are on whenever the unit is on. When it's bright in the room it's not a big deal, but at night when you're trying to sleep this is a big issue, I'm probably going to have to cut out little wedges of electrical tape or something to stick over them. It comes with an IR remote that lets you control it as well. The display on the front will show the room temperature normally and when you are adjusting the temperature controls up and down it will change to show the desired temp for a few seconds. One note here is that the unit seems to stop cooling even when you're a good 5*F or so away from the desired temp--Example, it was 78* in my room last night and I set the unit for 73* it was running for a while but when the temp hit 77* the compressor shut off for a very long time and the room started to feel hot, temp went back up to 78* and it clicked back on... this may just be a quirk with my unit or something, but my window-mounted a/c will keep running until their ambient temp sensors equal the desired temp setting.

* Window Adapter/Hose 8/10 -This is a single hose model, that means that it sucks air from the room to blow over the condenser (hot part) and then that air is blown outside; something to keep in mind is that you are sucking air from the room which means you are blowing your "conditioned" air outside as part of the normal process, as a result this unit will not cool a room as efficiently as a dual-hose model or a window/wall unit which both use outside air to cool the condenser--so this 10kBTU model will not cool a room as well as a 10kBTU window unit (it might be more comparable to a 7-8kBTU?). The window/hose adapters are decent quality, the only complaint I have is that I wish the adapter were "taller", my window sill is about 1" high, as a result the hose hits the sill before it the adapter hits the base, this isn't a big deal, but just wanted to note it. Another thing to note, some people complain about the window adapters not sealing very well--this one seems to do an OK job, the window just closes on the flat top of the adapter as a seal. The thing to keep in mind w/ these portable a/c's is that having a fantastic seal is not really expected or needed for the unit to operate, you get just as much air leakage around window mounted a/c's. The window adapter, hose adapter and hose are all well constructed and made of good materials--one tip: first screw the hose onto the unit, then screw the wide-mouth adapter thing onto the hose, THEN put the wide-mouth adapter into the window adapter, if you buy this you'll see what I mean :)

* Cooling/Air Output 10/10 -Works great! Very cold air, and it blows the air fast out of the vent, much better then my window mounted units which feel like they just dribble out air sometimes

* Noise 7/10 -First: It makes noise, all air conditioners do, if you need silence to sleep then you need another solution other then window/portable a/c's, I can sleep with the "white noise" of a fan/motor running. The unit is no louder then my 8kBTU window-mount unit when operating with and without it's compressor running; however, the reason I give it a 7/10 is that the unit tends to make more noise when the compressor turns on and off then my window unit does, in addition the compressor cycles on/off very often and for short periods, which exacerbates the issue. So far it has been waking me up, and that's not good, it remains to be seen if I can used to the noise, or this will become an awake-only unit.

* Draining 5/10 -With low room humidity this unit should be able to exhaust most of the water out with the waste air, which means no draining... but with high humidity you need to drain the unit, this an issue on this unit because unlike other units it does not drain into a bucket which can be removed and dumped out. With this unit you need to put a "shallow pan", as the instructions say, under the drain cock and open it... well this pan needs to be really shallow (see my user submitted image) because the drain cock is only about 1-2" off the floor! I can envision this being a real nightmare to empty and I'm not looking forward to really humid days

Overall I think this is a decent portable a/c, and I'm hopeful that it will work out.

Summarized my main concerns are:

1) Does not have a bucket to empty, if it needs draining that will be very difficult w/o a bucket

2) Front Panel LEDs are super bright and always on, makes it difficult to sleep

3) Compressor makes more noise then expected when starting/stopping, this wakes me up at night

Summarized the pro's are:

1) Very good air output--lots of volume and pressure

2) Cold output! Great for spot cooling, move the unit near you and you'll freeze your butt off even if the rest of the room is warmer then you might like

3) Easy to move around on the casters

4) Reasonable price

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Product was ok, but never went lower then 75. I guess when it's in the 90s 75 is cool enough.

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I bought this for my elderly mother because she has electronic gear set up in her bedroom and being on the 2nd floor it would get too hot in there for her safety in my opinion.

First of all, it is easy to install. I was worried about the exhaust hose through the window because that seemed complicated and way above my head. I had my brother come over and install it even though he assured me even I could do it :P It took him 20 minutes total. And MOST of that time was setting up the basics like where she wanted it and the direction it faced etc. The exhaust hose was trivial and it fit in her window just fine even though she has a sliding window left to right not up and down. It takes up a small space in the window and from the outside I didn't even see it.

It was heavy for me, but probably fine for most people.

It has a thermometer on the front so it tells you what temperature it is at when you start it and continues to update you as it goes down. It was 95 when she turned it on and within an hour it was down to 83. So basically it cooled her room by 12 degrees. That may seem small but also keep in mind it is constantly blowing cold air so she could point it at herself and it was instant relief the entire time. It has a remote too so she could adjust it from her bed.

I can't remember the wattage of it so check that. It is something like 1200 watts? Our only problem was that most fuses can only handle a total of 2000 watts.(I am typing this from what I was told so forgive me if my numbers are not 100% accurate) It was on the same circuit breaker as my bathroom and my hair dryer is 1200 watts so when I used it it blew a fuse. No big deal once I moved my hair dryer to another outlet.

IMO 12 degrees is worth it, especially since you might even get better results of you don't have all of the electronics she has.

This was also a great price compared to the other models I looked at which got bad reviews.

Honest reviews on NewAir AC-10000E Portable Air Conditioner

Bought the unit. Installed it. Set it up for continuous drain with a gallon size bucket. Filled the bucket in 8 hours or so with water and made my office ice cold. For about the first week. After that, it began to cool less and less and less and now it just blows room temperature air and quit putting out any water at all. Don't have the box any more. Probably can't return it. Don't know what I'm going to do with the $330 unit. Extremely dissappointed.

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I received this unit and it appeared to be of good quality. The set up was simple and I quickly was able to start it up. Initially it seemed to be working fine albeit with a fair amount of noise (which I expected). Unfortunately, I quickly noticed the compressor was cutting out and the unit stopped cooling. That night it was cooler outside than in my relatively small bedroom. I returned the unit the next morning.

American Harvest 52,300 BTU Pellet Stove with Exhaust Blower Reviews

Customer Ratings:

The reason many people end up dissatisfied with this stove is poor documentation. The stove really will efficiently burn wood pellets, cherry stones, corn, and other biomass fuels. The problem is that the manual explains virtually nothing about how to adjust the stove to get an efficient burn out of any of these fuels.

The fuel/air mixture is controlled from a digital keypad on the side of the stove. It is rather cryptically labelled with the digits 1-9 and the letters A, B, and C. The manual says that A controls the auger speed which means it controls how fast fuel is fed into the burn chamber. B, it is claimed, controls blower speed. C stops the auger for 90 seconds.

Where we run into problems is that all the default settings, in my experience, have a fuel/air mixture that is too rich. That is to say that there is too much fuel and not enough air. The result is that the stove burns poorly, produces a lot of soot, and doesn't heat well.

If you go to the keypad and simultaneously press and hold the A down arrow and the B up arrow for 5 seconds the display will flash; this means you can adjust base auger speed and base blower speed. This is where the manual really falls down.

Now press A. The LED above A will light and you will see numbers in both the A and B displays. 7 and 7, for example. What the booklet doesn't tell you is that this is basically a decimal display that means 7.7! You can adjust auger speed by tenths all the way from 1 to 9.

Press B and you can do the same thing with blower speed.

The booklet also confuses the blower issue. There are actually two blowers at work. B adjusts the blower that forces air into the burn chamber, not the fan that blows hot air into the area you want heated.

With a clear idea of what the keypad actually does, you should dial auger speed way down and blower speed up. With premium wood pellets I usually have the base auger speed set at around 2 and the base blower speed set at around 8. From there, as you adjust the heat level up and down, you just have to adjust the damper accordingly.

The manual notes that you should add chicken scratch to corn to avoid clinker formation. I've found it's a good idea to add it to any fuel that you are using.

Finally, avoid the temptation to run the stove with the damper too far open. This gives a blow torch look to the flame. You want to avoid it because it promotes clinker formation and because it blows a greater amount of fly ash around the inside of the stove than necessary.

With respect to fuel types: Wood pellets produce the greatest amount of heat and the smallest amount of fly ash. Corn and cherry pits have to be burned in greater volume to keep the house at the correct temperature and they produce greater amounts of ash. This means, in practice, that the stove has to be cleaned less frequently with pellets than with other fuels.

Overall, this stove works very well and would have a better reputation if American Harvest had put any effort whatsoever into producing a manual that explained how the controls function.

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I have had my stove for a year now. It cost about $300 to heat my 1600 sq ft basement heated. The additional benifit is that because the heat rises, my floors are warm on the first floor, and the air in the family room which is also the room with the stairs to the basement is warmer.

There are a couple issues that you must take into consideration:

Dry corn is a must. I buy corn from a local farmer with a moisture content of about 14 14.5%. This is a little higher than recommended by the manufacturer, so I add 2 lbs. of wood pellets per bushel of corn. I also add about 1/2 lb. of oyster shell (chicken scratch) per bushel to virtually eliminate klinkers.

The stove needs to be clean. I shut the stove down once a week for cleaning. Empty the ash bin, vacuum the firebox area, the heat transfer tubes, and the chimney clean-out.

Noise is about equal to a normal box window fan in good condition. The noise I hear is tha actual air blowing more than anything else. The firebox does lift up and drop back down on occasion, but this happens on average about once every hour or so, less immediately after a cleaning, more after 5 or 6 days of running.

Power. You must have electricity to run. If the power goes out, so does the stove. This will not keep you warm during power outages. We have lost power while the stove was running, but all that happened was the stove went out. No fumes seemed to back up into the house, but I had closed the air intake vent immediately. I would imagine that if you didn't close it, it would smell a bit until the fire died out.

It is much more work than just turning up the thermostat, but I have saved more than half the cost of the stove in propane compared to last winter. I am thinking about purchasing another one for the upper level.

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I bought one of these American Harvest beauties from the local farm supply store for $1280. I have had it hooked up and running for about a month now and am thinking about selling it. Here is what I do not like about it:

1. Its noisy.

Today it started to rattle. It sounds like the fan that circulates the heated air.

It makes frequent "bangs". When using corn large "clinkers" form in the burn tray. There is a bar inside the burn tray that rotates and keeps things mixed up. These "clinkers" wedge against the rotating bar and cause the burn tray to lift up and drop back down again...Bang! Luckily I can sleep through anything. The wife on the other hand hasn't slept much since we got this. :-(

2. Requires frequent cleaning.

The burn tray has holes drilled in. Corn is dropped into the burn tray and gets burned. The resulting ash is forced through the holes into the ash drawer, or that is how it is supposed to work anyway. In actuality, the spent corn is forced out of the burn tray into the pit that surrounds it. After a couple of days you need to shut the stove off for a couple of hours then vacuum out the pit. You need to let it rest for a couple of hours to make sure that it is completely burned out or you will start your vacuum on fire. I have tried using fireplace utensils to clean the pit but that doesn't work very well. The manual that comes with the stove recommends adding chicken scrath to the burn mixture to get a more complete burn. That doesn't seem to help mutch. They also recommend buying low-moisture corn. I asked the guy at the farm store what the moisture content of his corn was. You can probably guess how well that worked out.

The window requires frequent cleaning. This stove comes complete with something called "fire wash" technology that is supposed to keep the window clean. It doesn't work.

3. Difficult to regulate tempurature.

The stove has two controls. One controls the heat output and the other controls the blower for the heated air. The winter in my location is generally pretty mild so we usually run the stove somewhere between 1 and 3 (9 is the highest). I think the stove was designed to run at a higher output than this. This morning I was getting ready for work and noticed that it had completely burned out. Evidently, on a setting of 1 it doesn't add corn fast enough to keep itself burning. I relit it and bumped it up to three. Hopefully it will still be burning when I get home.

You also need to be careful what setting you leave the blower fan on. Set it too low and the stove will overheat and make your house smell funny. You really need to keep the fan set on at least 4 or 5. Sure its loud, but at least it smells better.

Honest reviews on American Harvest 52,300 BTU Pellet Stove with Exhaust Blower

I have owned this stove for more than a year. It has been nothing but a head ache. It smokes up my house and has shut down for countless reasons. I take a lot of care in running the stove and cleaning it...more than the average person would care to face. Their customer service is horrible. I find it hard to believe they own the stoves themselves with how they blame each and every problem on the customer. According to them they have no "problems". I love the idea of burning corn for fuel but I would definatley try out a different model and different company. Anyone interested in this model should research the difficulties other people face. I am definately not the only one wouldn't you agree?

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I have owned two pellet stoves before ordering this one, a Harmon Accentra and an old Whitfield. The Whitfield worked about as well as the Harmon and I came to realize they all operate on the same principal so I was not concerned about ordering the 6039.

When I went to install the stove I ran into a problem. I could not attach the 'T' fitting to the stove exhaust outlet. The outlet pipe had been jammed so tightly against the stove sheet metal that there was no gap for the 'T' to fit. I called the company at about 4:25 PM and was on hold for 25 minutes. The person I spoke to was rude and unhelpful but, best of all, she hung up on me at 5:00! I decided to just repair it and worry about the warrenty later.

As for the operation of the stove, I have used pellets only and it does pretty well. The fan is no louder than the other stoves I've owned. It does have to be cleaned weekly but all pellet stoves should be cleaned that often. In fact, some of the older stoves had to be cleaned daily. After 2 months I checked the 'T' fitting and it was virtually clean so I'm assuming the burn is efficient.

This stove does not have an auto ignitor which I was not sure would be a problem. My method is to use a propane (MAP gas) torch to lite the pellets, it works great and is fast and clean.

I have had a problem when it runs out of pellets. The stove will show ERR2 and normally you just add more and restart. Lately however it will just keep shutting down. I removed the side panel and jumped out the low temp switch to keep it running and after a few hours it was back to normal.

I would only recommend this stove based on it's price and only if you are confident you can repair it yourself. Customer service is worse than useless. As far as parts, it looks like they used off the shelf motors you could interchange with ones from Grainger to save some money.

Buy HotSmart Keep Hot Mug Patented

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $19.99
Sale Price: $8.95
Today's Bonus: 55% Off

Mom and Dad love these cups. Instead of jumping up from the table every few minutes to reheat the coffee in the microwave, Mom can sit and enjoy breakfast. They had already fallen in love with the dinner plates.

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I have not obtained this item and this "review" is mostly addressed to Juan (inventor).

In reviewing the comments and descriptions about this mug, I am offering the suggestion that you have a separate mug/heat reservoir that allows the mug to be handled (and washed) independently of the heat reservoir and ideally where the base is designed to accommodate a variety of similar diameter mugs. This way those with a preference for larger mugs can use at least TALLER mugs vs having (as another option offered to consumers) different reservoir bases & diameters that one can order to best suit their own mugs/needs. This also provides a certain degree of product acceptance if one knows that if something happens to the mug (and people certainly can drop these things or otherwise cause damage to the mug) then all they have to do is replace the mug. In theory, the base and its performance should last indefinitely. In addition, this would take care of any concerns one might have regarding water damage to the base since the base is easily left out of the cleaning regimen when the mug is cleaned.

Again, this is just a suggestion based on what I've read and my own "take" on how I would re-design the product if it was my idea. You may, of course, take it or leave it. I have also read the description and comments for the plate you have designed and marketed, and I would also suggest a similar re-design of that item along the same lines as for the mug.

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I have been struggling to find a solution to keeping my coffee hot in the cup without having to mess with hotplates and other prior solutions (which never worked very well because of the insulating properties of the cup) and have found the solution with the HotSmart Mug,which works exactly as well designed, PROVIDED that one follow the instructions and microwave the cup first in order to supply energy to the heat reservoir that is built in at the bottom of the cup. This energy is then available through passive transfer to the fluid in the cup (as it loses heat to the atmosphere). In regards to the constant problem of heat loss through the imperfect insulators that are coffee mugs, they have specifically addressed this by making the cup out of porcelain, which has better heat retention properties than ceramic alone, keeping the fluid significantly hotter than is possible with a standard ceramic cup alone. The fundamental physical laws that govern heat transfer in static situations (entropy), as well as dynamic situations (conservation of energy) are well utilized here, and these make perfect gifts!

Honest reviews on HotSmart Keep Hot Mug Patented

This mug is quite heavy for someone who has little strength in their hands/arms. The contents do stay hot on the bottom,

but with no lid, the contents quickly cool off.

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The cup was heavy, the instructions were confussing. The bottom line is my coffee did not stay hot/warm but the outside bottom would remove the finish of a fine table is coaster not used. Not worth all the prep microwave process for the end result!

Review of BISSELL ProHeat 2X Select Pet Upright Deep Cleaner, 94003

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Hi.

We bought this model at a local retail store last weekend. I had used a different model of the same brand previously (borrowed from in-laws). I have used it once, on my entire living room--a cream colored cheap wall-to-wall carpet laid down about 3 years ago by the previous owners. Probably artificial fibers. Just saying.

The carpet was getting spotty. We have a cat who has hairballs regularly and two four-year-olds. The cream colored carpet was showing spots around the kids computer, both couches, and the high-traffic areas at each doorway. We had some washable-marker marks here and there, and one sticky place. We live in the south so we had red clay marks, too.

I assembled the machine--had to get a long, thin screwdriver from the garage because the kind with the changeable tips is too fat for the holes in the upper handle. Assembly was easy, but I was left with an extra wand that had no home. Ours came with a small, medium, and large unpowered wand plus a powered wand and a crevice tool. At this point I was thinking that all the unpowered wands were kind of redundant.

I filled the machine with hot water and the 'fiber cleansing' solution my husband picked up because he didn't realize there were two bottles of solution inside the box. Not a big deal, we'll use it all, I'm sure. The soap tank was a bit leaky for just a second, so I let it drip til it stopped, then rinsed off the outside.

I grabbed the blue squirt bottle of 'tough stain precleaner' that came in the box and squirted each little gray, brown, or sticky spot. Didn't do anything else, just squirted. Gave the gray area near the doors a sort of 'misting' to get the job started.

I turned the dial on the Bissell to 'normal cleaning' and started near one door. Wet stroke forward, wet stroke backward, dry stroke forward, dry stroke backward. Had a little trouble with the suction at first, but I later determined this was probably because the machine had tipped while it was on. It makes a pop noise when it loses suction, and you pretty much have to shut the machine off and turn it back on to 'reset'. A few places in the carpet needed an extra going over with the wet/dry strokes to get the spots up.

After just a couple of strokes, the machine started spitting out little 'hairballs' that were gray--presumably cat hair and carpet fiber wads. I had read about these in the manual and so was not alarmed. I decided to let them go and after the carpet dried I'd get them with the dry vac.

About half-way through the room (13x18, roughly) it was time to dump the dirty water and refill. The water was like diluted hot chocolate in color, and had hairballs in it. Removing and replacing the tank is quite easy. Originally I was thinking I had to lay down the handle to get at the connections, but this is not true--the machine can be standing up and you can still get the water tank out. Not sure about the soap tank, though.

Note that while cleaning, you're dripping on the back stroke. So you start at one end of the room and work *backwards* to the other end, not forwards. Probably a no-brainer, but there you go. I tried using one of the unpowered wands for a spot under the kids desk, and it did OK but didn't really wow me. It was nice to have the trigger right there on the wand to be able to squirt soap at the spot, and the wand did fine at pulling the water back out. Didn't try the powered wand for it--I just went over it again with the big machine and the spot was completely gone. I'll try the powered wand another time.

Back in action, I finished up the room with no other highlights. I chose not to use the 'rinse' cycle on the machine at all, I guess I'm testing the anti-resoiling agent in the soap. :) I didn't really want to spend the time going over every inch of carpet twice.

When finished, I put down a couple of clean towels to walk on since we can't avoid using the room. The carpet itself was dried within a couple of hours--even the bit at the start where I was having trouble with suction.

Once dry, I have to say the carpet looks great. There might be one or two places where the spots wouldn't come out--but they have been cleaned at least 3 times now with three different machines and have persisted through all of them. Anyway, I do notice that the carpet nap is starting to look a little worn--it's cheap carpet. I haven't been back over it yet with the dry vac to get the hairballs up, that might change the appearance.

Husband said the smell of the soap was pretty much gone once the carpet dried, so it didn't leave a heavy stink of 'just washed the carpets' behind. The soap smell was itself reasonably pleasant and not overpowering even when wet.

So on to disassembly and cleaning. Emptying the dirty water was again no big deal. I rinsed out the tank afterward to get the hairballs out and keep it from getting stinky (why leave microban a big job, after all). I left the remaining soap in the soap tank for the next time. Since the shields over the nozzles and brushes are clear, you can see how scummy they get after just one use, so I grabbed my screwdriver again and popped off the clear shields (one screw for the front 'suck' piece, and two screws each for the side 'edge cleaner' areas) to rinse them out. The brushes themselves were exposed at that point and I could see the surfaces behind them were scummy but I didn't feel like removing the brushes so I just wiped with a rag to get the scum out of the places I could reach. At this point the vac is lying on its back in the kitchen, in the way. But one more wipe of the sole plate (where the dirty drips come from) and reapplying screws and shields and it all went back together easily. It took about another five mins or so to clean the machine after use. Then I grabbed a clean rag and the reassembled machine and moved it to its storage home. Since it's sitting on the carpet, I put the clean rag down first, then the machine on the rag to catch any drips I might have missed.

I am very pleased with how the machine performed. It made a dirty carpet look clean again, which is exactly what I wanted. It was relatively easy to use and clean (might tape a screwdriver to the machine just to have one handy) and it did a great job.

If I were going to improve the machine, I'd make those clear shields use a fastener other than a screw so they could pop off by hand. I'd maybe add one more fastener for that spare wand. I might include a plastic tray to sit the thing on when it's not in use. I might try to work on that suction pop noise thing to make it clearer that you need to stop and fix something before you squirt more soap down. I might also leave off all the marvelous stickers identifying special features. Not needed, and they get in the way of seeing what the machine is doing. And if I were really working hard to improve, I'd have a 'self propelled' motor to assist the user to move the machine at the proper speed (slow) and with the proper contact between machine and floor (to improve suction).

I hope the machine will last for the amount of time we intend to keep this carpet. Other reviews make me wonder if my satisfaction will last, since it seems other people have a lot of trouble with their machines, regardless of brand and model. I hope to update this review again later, after a few more uses.

-----edited Nov 30 2009

After using the machine several more times, I am still pleased. It's kept the carpet looking pretty good, and sometimes I'm able to get up spots using only the warm water without soap. That's nice. I haven't used up all the carpet soap that came with the machine (and that we bought by mistake). The cat was quite ill over the summer and kept throwing up all over the carpet, everywhere..and you really can't tell at all. Likewise the kids have repeatedly gone after the carpet with washable markers and crayons, and those marks are gone as well. Red clay marks gone. There are some shadowy gray areas at the main entrance/exit to the room that the shampooer doesn't seem to be able to help, I guess the carpet is just showing its age.

I have taped a gallon zip bag to the front of the machine, in which I have the manual and the screwdriver I mentioned earlier. Very handy. I've used the powered wand a few times now, and I like that much better than the unpowered ones. Agitation really helps get the gunk out.

I like using this machine better than my Spotlifter now, it does a better job. I do tend to 'save up' spots so I can run the machine for long enough to make it feel 'worthwhile', but it even gets up the old spots.

Anyway, I'm pleased with the machine, it does what I wanted it to do. After months, it doesn't stink (I still rinse it out after each use), and it hasn't made anything scummy while it sits waiting for the next use.

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I've owned three of these Bissell models over the past four years.

The first (2006) lasted nearly 18 months and about as many carpet cleanings. Eventually the spray system broke. Since it was out of warranty it was not worth getting fixed.

The second (2008) lasted 13 months. Same story, the spray system broke.

The third, this year, last 4 months and 3 carpet cleanings. Under warranty I called Bissell, got the names of two service centers but when I called them they both told me the same thing: Bissell was not going to warrant the spray system unless it was a manufacturer's defect.

Being prudent, I called Bissell and went through a 30 trouble shooting session over the phone. It was grueling. Check this gasket, that gasket, take out the spray nozzles, get an old toothbrush and clean the sprayer, try the hose, re-seat the water tank, re-seat the soap tank, try the hose again, chew some gum, run the machine for a minute, walk on the ceiling for 30 seconds, run the machine and press the spray button for two minutes, check the hose without the attachment, spin your partner loop-de-lou, stretch the hose out, look out the window and wait for a police car to go by, run the machine and try the spray....

When I questioned the Bissell customer service person about the two service centers reporting that the spray system was probably not going to be covered by the warranty, because Bissell apparently doesn't believe spray problems are a manufacturer's defect, they stuck to the company line: we will fix a manufacturer's defect. How about a return? That's up to the store where you purchased it.

Here's my take: I expect a $200 carpet cleaner to work. I expect to fill it with water, put the tank on, fill it with soap, put the tank on, turn on the switch and clean carpet. My position is that all the trouble shooting Bissell made me go through was just to make up for bad design, bad engineering, poor quality parts, etc. This model of machine has a serious spray system issue. It obviously has several points where it fails and Bissell seems to believe it is your problem not theirs.

Don't buy this product, the spray system may last 2 years or 4 months, just to get it work is a problem even if the pump is still working, but no matter what Bissell's support system isn't there for you.

Luckily for me, a brought this product at Costco and they took it back and gave me a full refund.

Though I'm not sure carpet cleaners from other manufacturer's are any better, I know the Bissell is not an option.

Personally, I would pay more for a longer lasting quality product if and when I can find one. I think we need to stop sourcing these products from China.

Best Deals on BISSELL ProHeat 2X Select Pet Upright Deep Cleaner, 94003

My wife and I have two dogs, a 2 year old child and the cheap white/beige colored carpet that I'm sure everyone has seen before. It came with our house when we bought it. We have been living here for 3 years and you don't realize how dirty your carpets actually get until you clean them. It came to a point where I could not stand to be in my house because the carpets got so bad. As if the dogs weren't enough, my daughter spilled liquid bubbles everywhere and dirt attaches to the fluid like a magnet. We bought this bissell a week ago and finally finished using it this past weekend. I'm very happy with the results. My carpet looks A LOT better!!

Pros:

It is very easy to use after you understand how to use it.

If you compare, side by side, the section you cleaned next to an area you didn't get to yet you will notice that it does a really good job.

The carpets barely get wet and dry incredibly fast for that reason.

Cons:

You really need to understand how to use this before you try for the first time. For example, you need to make sure you change the water before you use it all. If not, it will start to use all of the cleaning solution and it wastes it. The solution isn't cheap so you want to avoid this from happening. (we did find deals online for larger bottles which make this cost more upfront but over the course of using this it will save you quite a bit)

You go through more solution than I would like and you have to change the water fairly often (it isn't hard to change though).

If you have pets, their hair will clump up and lay on the carpet after you've cleaned it. Honestly, after the carpets dry I walked around and picked up maybe 5 or 6 quarter sized clumbs and that was it. I didn't even need to vacuum after.

The bottom line is that this machine does a really good job after you learn how to use it well. It has it's pros and cons but what machine doesnt? If you think it's going to magically make your carpets brand new again you are naive, but if you are looking for something easy to use, fairly inexpensive to buy and something that makes your carpet look a lot better than they did, then this is the machine to get. My wife and I are certainly happy we bought it!

Honest reviews on BISSELL ProHeat 2X Select Pet Upright Deep Cleaner, 94003

I did a lot of research before purchasing this item, and I'm very pleased with it. It is easy to use and did a good job getting out some pet stains that my spot cleaning couldn't get rid of. I've already used it 3 or 4 times because I have major dog/child traffic. Using it and even cleaning it up afterwards isn't much more work than using a vacuum.

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UPDATE ADDED TO END 3/1/2013

I am on my second Bissell Proheat 2X. The first one, I bought four years ago and used it constantly. I have twin tots and two dogs, I feel I got my money out of the first machine. The reason I bought a second machine is that the hand held attachment on the first broke and I got a GREAT deal on the newer model. The new one also came with a myriad of attachments the old one didn't have (the seller for me being the crevice tool). It also came with two big bottles of cleaner.

Yesterday, I used it on my stairs and the entire upstairs. We have a light colored shag carpeting. I was astounded at what the machine picked up yesterday--when I emptied the water from cleaning the stairs, it was near black. The rug hadn't even looked dirty. I did the entire upstairs and used the crevice tool to get under the wood trim on the floor. The upstairs looks and smells as fresh as when the carpets were new. I highly recommend this product. I took one star off because there is no automatic indictor as to when you need to add more water. It was pretty much by trial and error for me. Otherwise, this machine is excellent. It heats the water to a very hot point and has great suction to grab the dirty water back up. The cord is very long, I was able to do every room upstairs without moving the cord to different outlets.

I also recommend that people shop around--you can get this machine for $160 at some stores. It's better than hiring a professional and you know 'where it's been'--I always wonder about the professional companies! Did they clean up a crime scene with their machine? Yuck. I also hate having strangers in my home. It does a great job and for what you pay for someone (nd not deal with all of the haggling), you could own this great product to use for years. Don't be put off by the fact I broke my attachment--I can be very destructive with vacuums etc!!

UPDATE 3/1/13: My ProHeat stopped dispensing solution. I took it apart and could not resolve, finally took it to a local authorized vacuum repair center. While I waited for someone to come out to help me, I noticed there was a row of recently repaired Proheats. Peeked at some of the tags and all had the same issue--solution not dispensing (and all with a repair bill around $90! You could practically buy a new one for that!). The repair woman came out and told me to take my cleaner home and bring it back another time, she was too busy with other cleaners. Rude! I dragged my unit back to the car and drove it home, comepletely angry. I searched online and found the belowrepair center manual. I tried two things and my cleaner was dispensing cleaner again in minutes! There was a little gasket that had become separated. I also poured very hot tap water through the tank and voila! I guess it may have become clogged with dried solution, or it was the gasket being off. Whatever, it works and for free. So save yourself some money and try this guide before going to a repair center. My cleaner is working as good as when I purchased it years ago. cleaner

Buy SPT WA-9040DH Dual-Hose 9,000-BTU Portable Air Conditioner

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $673.00
Sale Price: $449.00
Today's Bonus: 33% Off

Think very hard before buying this machine. We bought it with the hope it might actually cool down a room, or at least keep a room comfortable, but alas nothing of the sort was achieved. Instead we are left with a frightfully noisy and large thing that fails simply does not work.

It is besides a very poorly engineered machine, demanding that one spends half an hour at a time just adding or subtracting one of the hoses depending on how hot it is outside. And then one is left to refit it to the window, which cannot be done without copious amounts of unsightly gaffer tape. The instruction guide is so idiotically conceived as to explain, with an entire page of the booklet, how to fit batteries into the remote, yet not a word was written on how to connect any of the hoses, nor how to adjust the vent.

It should be a crime that such a machine be allowed to be sold. Do yourself a favor and buy something, anything, else.

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I've got this unit in my bedroom, it's a small room of about 300 square feet. I live in Florida and it's very hot and humid for a large portion of the year. Works great, it's quiet, I've got several fans and they all make much more noise than this unit does. Even my little 12 inch desktop Sylvania is louder. It's a quiet humming that doesn't disturb. Keeps the room cool and blows cold air. It can keep my room at below 70 even in 100+ degree weather.

The dual hose system is nice, but it's been too hot for me to use it much. The manual recommends using a single hose if the outside temp is above 95, and it has been for a while here. I have used it that way on a couple of occasions when the temperature dropped into the low 90s. It does cool faster with both hoses hooked up, but can effectively cool my room even with a single hose with no trouble. It just takes a few more minutes to cool off. Switching out hoses is simple and only takes a moment to do. You just twist one end into the back of the unit and insert the adapter end into the window mount. If using single hose mode, the intake vent should be covered with one of the supplied vent covers.

It's also not a huge power draw. Heating mode does take quite a bit, a little more than 1200 watts, but cooling is a little less than 1000 watts. It's about the same as running my PC.

The manual is horrible and it's not made clear that you may have to do a bit of cutting to the window mounts for the hoses to get them to fit your window frame. It's the worst thing about this product, but looking up the instructions for another similar unit online did fill in the holes the user manual for this unit had.

For example, I had to use the instructions from another company's similarly designed dual hose AC to discover that the intake vent should be covered when running in single hose mode. It's not mentioned in the manual at all. Another tip is to extend the end of the intake/exhaust hoses out a bit before trying to screw on the window exhaust/intake adapters. The manual doesn't mention it, but they don't screw on properly unless you extend the hose a little on the end.

I considered taking a star off for those issues, but the unit is good enough to forgive them. It wasn't difficult to figure out what to do just based on how the parts fit together. The initial installation instructions are the only area that suffered. Operating the unit once installed is clear enough. It doesn't explain how to hook up the hoses and the window mounting section. It's not hard to figure out, but it did cause a moment of frustration. Once I figured it out, it mounted into the window with no trouble aside from a bit of trimming on the plastic sliding section [no tape or extra materials required].

It's an excellent product, well designed, and it works as advertised. It won't cool off a house, but will keep a 350 square foot room comfortable with ease even in extremely hot weather. The instructions are poorly written and not nearly as detailed as they should be, but as I said, filling in the holes with a user's manual PDF from another dual hose AC was easy to do and filled in any information gaps left in the poorly written instructions. I shouldn't have needed to do that, but it's not a problem with the unit itself.

It's a great AC unit with a horrible user manual. Worth every cent I paid for it, and I really don't think poor technical writing justifies a ding in the score. The unit itself is exactly what it says it is, and does exactly what it says its supposed to.

Cadet Manufacturing 65101 120/240-Volt White Com Pak Electric Bath Review

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $229.99
Sale Price: $99.95
Today's Bonus: 57% Off

It's quiet and puts out alot of heat. I like that you can wire it either 120 or 240, it's a nice option. The only reason I deducted 1 star is the timer. The timer is quite loud and cannot be reset.

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puts out lots of heat, (wired for 220), easy to install, fairly quiet. good easy to understand instructions.

No problems or concerns.

Best Deals on Cadet Manufacturing 65101 120/240-Volt White Com Pak Electric Bath

This heater was installed in our new construction home as the primary heater for the master bathroom. The heater does put out heat, but I am unimpressed with the speed of the fan and how slowly the room heats up. Previously we had used a plug-in ceramic style heater that seemed to heat the room significantly faster. I believe that they are the same watt output, it may just be that the fan in this Cadet is low enough as to not evenly distribute the heated air. If you turn it on far enough in advance of needing it, things will work fine.

Last complaint is that there should be a way to turn off the timer clicking. While not exactly loud or distracting, a silent operation would be better.

Honest reviews on Cadet Manufacturing 65101 120/240-Volt White Com Pak Electric Bath

The only reason I purchased this unit was because it has a timer on it. I thought it would turn off the heat when the timer shuts off so that it wouldn't run continuously. It doesn't work that way. There is NO way to shut this off. The timer can temporarily override the thermostat control but it will NOT shut off the unit. So if you're looking for a timed heater, just buy a cheaper one and wire it through an external timer.

8 Oz. Popcorn Popper Machine with Cart Color: Black Review

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $639.95
Sale Price: $279.95
Today's Bonus: 56% Off

Got for father's day, and have to say I'm disappointed in the design of the kettle and lid. It makes great popped corn, but the photos weren't very good on the Amazon site, so I bought thinking this was a higher-end model, really like the black look. The issue with the kettle is the lid on this lifts off when cooking, and rotates around until it is jammed between the two supports, a lot of kernels fall out in the process because the lid doesn't put pressure on the popped corn coming out the top. If I had to purchase again, I'd get one that has the solid lid that in hinged on each side. Solid construction, and looks great and works okay just wish design was better.

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This is the best item I've purchased in a long time.

I'm still going through different brands of popcorn to find the one that I Love.

I say almost like the theater....because I have to make it myself as opposed to walking up and having it handed to me. LOL

I've tried making flavored popcorn and have had mixed results... I pop the corn first then try mixing in a large container..

Peanut Butter came out great... the Cheddar Cheese ok.. but the Caramel... not so much.. still working on it.

I would definitely recommend one of these poppers to any popcorn purist.

I only looked at others either in stores or online... and found this to be the best deal.

I like that it has a deck warmer, even though the popcorn never stays in the machine for more than an hour...LOL

I like that it is easily removed from the base and can sit on the countertop or end table.

Buy Commercial Electric Soup Kettle Warmer - 10.5 Quart

Customer Ratings:

I searched everywhere for soup warmer that wasn't $500...and had no such luck until this one! I ordered 2 warmers for my hotel's dinner buffet. Upon receiving the products, they seem to be of great quality and look awesome. The warmer also comes with a magnet label that you can use to label your soup. We have found this product easy to use and a great purchase.

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I make soup for my staff. I needed a bit more capacity so I bought this.

I have only been using it for a week so will update later if I have problems.

So far seems well built, works perfectly. And seems like good value.

Buy Vornado TVH600 Whole Room Vortex Heater, Automatic Climate Control

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $249.99
Sale Price: $153.18
Today's Bonus: 39% Off

Purchased January 5th, died January 28th. The touch panel illuminates and shows the correct temps, but neither the heat nor the fan turns on. No funny burning smell either. We use it in our 2 yr old's bedroom at night, so about 12 hrs each night for 3 weeks to keep the temp at 73. It hasn't been very cold here, around 60-65 in his small 9'x9' room without the heat on at night. Also, the unit is made in China.

I called Vornado and they're doing the repair for free, shipping included. Hopefully the repaired or replacement heater will be more reliable.

update: After 2 months or so of using the replacement unit, everything is working properly. I would rate customer service 5 stars since they are very friendly, helpful, and in the US.

update 2: the replacement one is broken now less than 1 year later. Heat fires up fine, but no fan. Off to get another replacement from Vornado. Again, customer service is VERY GOOD, 5 stars again. If only their flagship heater could last more than one "winter" here in California, which isn't that cold at all.

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This heater is extremely accurate in maintaing the set temp. I have tested it several times against a digital thermometer with memory. With each test, the heater has maintained the set temp. to within .5 degrees, plus or minus of the set temp. These tests have been conducted on 8 hr. time frames.

The remote is very easy to use & is an impt. upgrade, because it allows you to place the sensing device @ any location in the room away from the heater. This gives a much more accurate temp. throughout the room.

The air circulation ability of the vornado heaters is pretty amazing. it really circulates the air throughout the room as advertised. It works slow but effectively.

The heater has been used for probably 48 hrs. of run time. Hopefully, it is durable enough to maintain its current performance over many yrs.

I have two of the vornado VH2 heaters which both failed during the 1st winter of moderate use. I purchased the EH1 heater only after learning that Vornado will pay shipping to return the two VH2 heaters to the factory for free warranty repair & will ship back to me @ no cost. The EH1 also has the free return policy but has a 2 yr. instead of the 1 yr. warranty found on the VH2. Warranty info. that came with the VH2 & EH1 all state that the customer has to pay to ship the product back to the factory and then include $20 for them to ship it back to you. this is basically a worthless warranty and in my call to Vornado, they said that they now pay shipping both ways on all of their heaters.

Best Deals on Vornado TVH600 Whole Room Vortex Heater, Automatic Climate Control

This heater promises a lot, and is certainly on the pricey side for an electric heater. The remote is non-intuitive, and seems to require several button presses to get the heater to respond. The remote's display shows you the current temperature, but not the temperature that you've set the thermostat to -you have to look on the heater itself to see that. It's also easy to change the heat setting (low, high, fan-only) without realizing it, unless you're looking at the heater's display while you're using the remote. All that said, the heater is quiet, and does a good job of heating the room. The auto-off after a set number of hours is a nice feature.

But here was the real problem for me -the heater failed after one week of use. We stepped out of the room for a few minutes, at a time when the heater was not heating, but was still turned on, and came back to a slight electrical odor in the air. The heater was now off, and pressing the "on" button did nothing. I verified that it was the unit and not a circuit breaker in my house. Fortunately, I can return this item to where I bought it within 30 days for any reason. While I have the option of getting a replacement, I don't think it's worth the risk. The manufacturer has a 2-year warranty, but warranty service requires mailing the unit cross-country at my expense, PLUS a $20 shipping and handling fee to get the unit returned to me. I don't want to get another and have it fail 31 days after I get it, so this one is going back. Too bad, because I really like the concept! But poor implementation and apparently poor reliability (sample of one) kills it for me. Not recommended.

Honest reviews on Vornado TVH600 Whole Room Vortex Heater, Automatic Climate Control

Received my order and plugged it in and it heated the room I had it in within a couple minutes. Works as good as advertised if not better with even heat distribution. Now use it to heat our entire downstairs (living room, kitchen, and dining room) during the day, and the furnace very rarely kicks on. When it does it's for less than half the time it would without the Vornado. The real test will be when we receive our first electric bill with this little powerhouse.

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We have had our TVH600 replaced 3 times. The first one lasted about 10 months before the automatic turn-off began to just shut the unit off all the time and eventually it stopped working all together. The second unit, we had for about a week and never worked properly! It tripped off constantly and smelled like it was burning, plus the cord would get really really HOT. The third unit worked for 1 day before the thermostat was reading 68 degrees and it was set to 72 degrees and blowing cold air. The company has been absolutely wonderful about replacing the units, but this particular model is garbage, plain and simple. Vornado is going to send me another model, this time, so hopefully this one works.