Appliance Reviews

I purchased this model from a retail outlet about 8 months ago. In fact, I purchased two - one for myself and one as a gift. It really does a very good job of keeping beverages cold, and because of its small size, it's really handy. The bad news is that after the first 6 months, the motor got really loud... REALLY loud... and then died. I thought perhaps it was just mine, but the one I gave as a gift went through the same process and is now gone, as well. At these prices, I guess they're a disposable item, but they should really have lasted a bit longer than they did.

I bought this machine in May 2003 and seemed like a great idea to have in my office. However, the motor on the fridge now makes really loud sounds and when I bought the machine it was quiet.
Also you really have to store/buy really compact containers and juices to fit in fridge, because it is rather small. I'm not sure if the motor is planning on giving up but it sure sounds that way. If you are a person who eats kidsize portions of food and doesn't bring leftovers in big tupperware dishes, then this product may be for you. Otherwise, invest in a quality fridge that will last longer than this product seems too.

The features of this fridge are all good. Keeps food cold but can also warm things up! Only $80 thats a pretty good deal. But don't be fooled all; all that fits is a lunch bag and a bottle of pop. Anymore stuff and your out of luck. I always like to keep at least 3 kinds of soda on hand and maybe some cheese... you know a bunch stuff to nibble on throghout the day. If your like me. Look at the size of the fride before you buy it!

I bought this in Nov 2001 (because I have a crockpot that I love but it is a little too small for turkey roasts, large chickens, etc.) it worked for less than a year & it is next to impossible to get ahold of Rival customer service. You pay for the product and then they want you to pay to ship it back...I will never buy Rival products again.

I too was disappointed when my roaster quit working. It looked like sparks were coming from the bottom. I purchased this roaster in the store. It worked great for about 6 months. In that time, I used it probably 4 times. Heating up for the first time the pan started smoking, but after about 15 minutes it quit. The manufacturer should look into their design. Maybe something needs to be changed.

I use this roaster several times a week and just love it. It is great for pot roasts, roast chicken, boneless turkey breast, ham and all the things you would normally cook in a roasting pan in a large oven. I love that this roaster doesn't heat up the kitchen like a large oven!

It's also great as a larger-size slow cooker -- soups and stews have turned out amazingly well, and I never get out my regular crock pot anymore. This one is nice because you can really adjust the heat, unlike crock pots that have only two settings.

I have used this roaster like a mini regular oven. The cooking rack is just the right size to fit a small oval casserole dish. (I have had to adjust casserole times slightly -- cook times take a little longer than in a conventional oven.) It is also good for roasting stuffed peppers or other vegetables. The booklet that comes with it tells you how to use it as a steamer for vegetables, too. I would have never thought of that.

The little window in the top is a nice feature. If you put a meat thermometer in your roast you can see when it has reached the desired temperature without opening the lid. Also, the machine has little metal hooks over the handles to hold your lid in place if you open it during the cooking process. This is a nice design feature since it keeps the open time minimal, and you don't have to put the lid down on another surface of your kitchen.

I like the clean lines of the design, too. It looks really nice on my old 30s white enameled range, but I could see it in any kitchen setting.

It is very easy to clean, since the entire cooking well is removable. The nonstick surface has been very durable for me, with no scratches or flaking.

although my rating for this product was only three stars, i was overwhelmed by the design of this product, it was just so captivating in sight and everything about this "dream" refrigerator is just simple remarkable and high tech, so ladies and gentlemen, my final last words for this is... INCREDIBLE.

Not a bad refrig. Overall not a bad product, just a little pricy for this product. I would recommend it for the size and convenience.

Not much to say about this unit... The temperature inside can get VERY cold if you want, or just cool if you want, either way it does the job you asked for. The freezer also works well, makes ice in a flash on the medium temp setting.

Inside, its perfect for holding sodas or beer or what not and holds more than you would think. This unit is not the best for bottled beers though, you have to take out the only rack inside which holds the drip tray.

All in all, this is a great compact refrigerator.

The appearance of the wafflemaker is great...silver, shiny, modern motif. The bright red and green lights, as well as the bell that rings when the waffles are done are great thoughts, too. HOWEVER...I've now tried 2 of this model. Both have failed miserably in making a waffle...one burned every waffle, no matter the setting. The other cooked only one side of the waffles ( and we tried various recipes). I would not recommend this one, gang, until the bugs are worked out!

My wife bought this for me on Fathers Day and we have used it at least three to four times a month since we got it.
This is one nice Waffle maker, built very sturdy. I've never had a waffle stick, just set the automatic timer that lets you know when the waffles are done, reach in with a plastic fork (don't want to scratch the non-stick surface) then pop them loose and they come right out. Not like my old waffle maker where I had to spray it every time I used it.
Just be sure to follow instructions when you first get it about how to treat the surface.
I would definitely recommend this product 5 stars + + + + +.

I won't repeat the detailed reviews below, but they're right on target. This machine is a wonderful addition to my breakfast (and dinner and dessert!) options. I remember my mother struggling to use (and store) the old waffle iron when I was a kid. That kept me from getting one until now. The VillaWare works great. The waffles don't stick, it's easy to clean and it stores upright. What more could I ask for?

I was so excited at the prospect of having a 3-cup mini chopper. I thought it would be ideal for hummus, which I hate to scrape out of my blender. However, it was very disappointing. On either speed, it just seems to chop what is in the center, so the stuff on the inside stays on the inside and the outside stuff stays on the outside--unchopped. If I wanted to take the lid off every two seconds and move everything around, I'd use the blender, no? I nearly pureed some red pepper, trying to get it all chopped. I have a 2 cup mini chopper (Procter-Silex, I think) that is really much better at consistent chopping. I never had to take the top off of it. Unfortunately, the bowl got warped in the dishwasher (even though it claimed to be dishwasher safe) and the lid does not fit tightly now, making an occasional mess with liquids and crumbs. Still, even warped, I find myself using the old one instead of this new one--it is really that bad!!

Within three months of receiving this item (as a wedding present)
one of the hinges on the lid fell off. The unit still functions properly, but I would think twice before spending [the money].

This food processor is tiny and is great for chopping veggies and mincing garlic. The blades attachment, however, did cause a small leak when blending liquids. Also, you can't leave it running for more than a few seconds, because the motor starts to emit a burning sound.

Overall, good for quick kitchen jobs and it's a bargain...I mean, those manual Zyliss food choppers cost that much.

Surrogate review for my mom (who's not computer comfortable).

"They're lids," she tells us. "They fit on the bowls pretty well."

So this item apparently does what lids are supposed to do. They cover the bowls. And they fit "pretty well."

Well, they work, and will keep food fresh while being stored in the refrigerator, and keep the bowls clean while in storage. One note, they seem to be overpriced for what you get.

I didn't buy these for food storage - I bought them so I could keep my attachments inside the mixer bowl on the counter, without them getting covered with grease and coffee grounds. For that purpose, these lids are perfect.

The center well looks odd, but it's just the right depth to clear the mixer shaft when the lid is on the bowl on the mixer, and almost the right width to allow two covered bowls to be stacked and stay stable (the base of the top bowl goes into the well in the bottom bowl's lid - the fit is a little tight, but still works).

The lids lost a star because I washed one of them in hot water in the dishwasher (on the bottom rack), and it shrunk slightly. It still goes on the bowl, but it strains to fit. I believe the instructions say "top rack" dishwasher safe, so you could chalk this up to user error, not necessarily to bad design.

The item that I purchased was so poorly packaged that it arrived with several pieces missing. I requested a refund, but have not heard back from the seller for several days. The item is unusable, and now I have a lengthy process to try to recoup my losses. I will never buy an item this way again.

This is the first grinder I have ever bought. I wanted it to grind up chicken backs so I could make my own dog food. I feed BARF. It works well for that. Just don't over load it & listen to the motor, so it doesn't get over worked. I use the larger diameter holes, which makes grinding easier and it goes faster. You do have to cut up the backs into smaller pieces before putting them in the grinder. I use the sauage maker which comes with it to put the dog food in sauage links. If I make more then 8lb of links with the larger hole grinder at a time I have to remember to clean out the sauage maker, before the 2nd batch or the larger bones will get stuck in the sauage maker.

I bought this grinder many years ago when it was made by Villaware. I make cat food for my numerous cats (I'm a breeder) and it has held up to grinding hundreds of pounds of chicken or rabbit meat with bone. I recommend this grinder to anyone thinking of making their own cat or dog food...

BOUGHT THIS IN FEB 2002.WAS VERY PLEASED UNTIL THIS MONTH SEPT
2003.VACUUM NOT WORKING AND MELTING SEALER BAGS.
I WILL PROBABLY BUY AN UPGRADE MODEL NEXT TIME.

I have had my Vac 300 for about 1-1/2 years and never had a problem with it until just this past month. Now the left side of the sealing strip will not seal and I did not realize that until days later when I went back into the freezer. My brother swears by this product but has purchased a more expensive unit. I plan to also "upgrade" to a better level because when it works, you can't beat it, and once you get used to it, you can't be without it!

I actually use the Vac 500, but the solution to many of the problems I read about here is to replace the lower seal and/or the upper seal unit. Both of these are easy to replace and a simple call to Tilia with the problem will result in FREE REPLACEMENTS.

I just did this for my 500 and I am back in sealing business.

I have owned 3 of these little processors, problem is the motor keeps going out. After 3 dead motors, I've decided to move on to Kitchenaid. Sorry Cuisinart.

I make yoghurt smoothies everyday and bought this mini cuisinart processor to use as a spare when my old mini Krups is dirty. The cuisinart mini is a TERRIBLE machine. It has too many safety features, making it more difficult to position the bowl correctly than the Krups. Spills happen. Also, it is incredibly noisy. This is a significant problem in itself, because you have to run it for what seems like forever to get it do its job, because the cuisinart cannot even puree a banana. After a few minutes of processing, big chunks of banana still remain. I don't have this problem with the Krups. Maybe mine is a lemon, but based on my experience, anything is better than this. By the way, now when I want quicker results with the banana I mash it with a fork first.

A few years ago a friend gave me a hand-me-down full-size food processor, but I had never used one before and was intimidated by the size and all the different blades, and never used it. This summer, with my basil and parsley growing in unprecedented quantities, I discovered my blender was not adequate for making pesto so I purchased the Cuisinart Mini-Prep. It's easy to use and not intimidating at all. I will second what one of the other reviewers said, though: it was not obvious that the lid had to be locked in a certain position as well as the base, and the first time I hit the Grind button and nothing happened, I thought I had bought a dud. With a little fiddling around, I finally figured it out, and the pesto that came out was of uniform consistency (unlike my chunky blender version) and delicious.

Overall this product is exceptional. Easy to use, assemble and clean. However, the shaft on which the blade spins seems to have a design problem. Out of the three Salad Spinners that I have had and given as gifts, two of them are defective. On one of them the shaft casing has cracked making it all but impossible to change the blades. The second one has a shaft that has too much play in it. When assembled the shaft comes too far down allowing the blade to come in contact with the inside basket and obstructing its ability to spin.

Make sure to know the return policy before purchasing this item, or you may be stuck with it.

I have the salad express, and it was well worth the money spent, washing and drying your lettuce leafs is now a breeze, grating cheeses, or slicing tomatoes, radishes, whatever you usually put in your salad, it's all done now with one appliance, the bowl holds a large salad, also you can toss your dressing with this appliance and use a minumal amount of dressing, and all the leafs are coated, saving money over time. It is as important as my steamer, and juicer. Judith

After having gone through many hand turned salad spinners, I decided to spend the extra money and get a good one. This makes salad preparation soooooo easy. No more spinning by hand, just grip and press and you get instantly spun veggies. The grating discs are really handy too, just push veggies thru after the greens are spun... instant salad. I wish I had known about it years ago! Well worth the money. The convenience and saved time are well worth the investment.