Tip: 20% off at Fat Face
From now until Monday you can get 20% off at FatFace.co.uk making for some pretty nice bargains.
The discount applies to everything! To use simply place the items you want in your basket and the discount will be reflected, no code needed!
Don’t forget to go though your CashBackKings account to receive an additional 8% cashback [...]
Voucher: 10% off at Office Shoes
If you’d like 10% off your order at Office Shoes then this is just the code for you – simply follow this link to the website – select the beautiful new shoes that take your fancy and enter code OURGIFT2U at checkout
Can be used on everything on the site and the code is [...]
Get the best deals on small appliances for the holidays
Everyone’s gearing up for the big day—and we don’t mean Thanksgiving. We’re talking about Black Friday, that only-in-America shopping bonanza that kicks off even before the last leftover turkey scraps make it into the fridge.
The big news amid this season: small appliances. Major retailers like Target, Lowe’s, the Home Depot, Ace Hardware, and Amazon are offering impressive deals on toasters, microwave ovens, blenders, choppers, and slow cookers. Indeed, sales of small appliances are up or at least staying afloat even as big-ticket items like ranges and refrigerators are some 25 percent off their peak a few years back. Small wonder, then, that the number of visits to our small-apliances forum keeps percolating upward. We neither endorse nor pooh-pooh the Black Friday bonanza, and the information below should be helpful throughout the holiday-shopping season and beyond.
Whether you’re the type who likes to give useful holiday gifts—or just want to save money slow-cooking cheaper cuts of meat or avoiding stops at overpriced coffee shops—here are some especially good performers from Consumer Reports’ ongoing small-appliance tests. Ratings are available to subscribers, but we’ve also provided links to our free buyer’s guides.
The best big-ticket appliances? You’ll find dozens of top picks and Best Buys to choose from in our ratings (available to subscribers). We’ll also keep you posted on the $300 million cash for clunkers appliance-rebate program coming to an appliance store near you. So take advantage of the lower prices, and be careful when you shop. And remember, you’ll find more timely holiday-shopping advice by reading Tightwad Tod on our Money blog and on our Holiday Shopping Guide.
Blenders: The top-rated Blendtec Total Blender excels at a wide range of tasks (such as grinding coffee beans), but both retail regularly for up to $400 each. One lower-cost pick that did well in our tests was the Oster Counterforms BVLBO7-L, $80. See our free buyer's guide to blenders for other choices and their capabilities.
Coffeemakers: Our top-performing Cuisinart DCC-1200, $100, has been sighted selling online for as little as $74. Best Buys like the funkily styled Michael Graves 40304, $40, are also worth your dime. For more shopping and ratings information, see our free buyer’s guide to coffeemakers.
Food processors and choppers: Watch for markdowns on the Magimix Cuisine 5150, a very impressive machine with an equally impressive price of $480.The KitchenAid KFP715[WH], $100, is an excellent choice if you don’t need kneading capabilities. We also tested the Hamilton Beach Big Mouth 70573H, $80, and include its scores in our ratings. See our free buyer’s guide to food processors and choppers for more information.
Mixers: Among stand mixers, the KitchenAid Classic K45SS[WH], $200, and Hamilton Beach Eclectrics 6322[1]stood out for value. See our ratings for other standouts. And check out our free buyer’s guide to mixers for more details.
Microwave ovens: The Panasonic Inverter NN-SD697[S], $170 and Magic Chef MCD1611ST, $100, outperformed other models costing twice as much or more. Looking for extras like convection and speed cooking, which combines microwave and convection? You’ll find them on the $330 Kenmore Elite 6790[9], $330. How did Cuisinart’s first microwave, the CMW250, $245, fare in our tests? See our ratings and our free buyer’s guide to microwaves for more information.
Slow cookers: These can save you time and money by preparing meals while you attend to other tasks as well as turning cheaper cuts of meat into tender pot roasts and stews. Our tests found that the Hamilton Beach Set ‘N Forget 33967, $70, and the Rival Crock-Pot SCVC604H-SS, $50, offer lots of features and performance for the money. But a $100 model from VersaWare lets you brown meat in a stovetop-safe pot beforehand, as some recipes require.
Toasters and toaster ovens: New and retro designs abound, but the Proctor-Silex Cool-Touch 22203, $15, combined good performance and a bagel setting—provided you’re willing to give up a few features. See our free buyer’s guide to toasters and toaster ovens and look for an update on toasters in our January 2010 issue, online and on newsstands in early December.
Wine cellars and corkscrews: Worthy freestanding wine cellars included the Kenmore 9913, $500, Danby DWC283BLS, $350 and Frigidaire FWC425GS, $300. Also consider the Emerson Electric Wine Bottle Opener BO60 and its virtual twin, the Oster Inspire Collection Electric Wine Opener 4207. Both cost about $20 and provide drama-free opening of holiday wines.
Meat and refrigerator thermometers: These excellent stocking stuffers make for safer keeping and cooking of food. Undercooked meats are a known hazard, but sickness-causing microorganisms can rapidly increase in a refrigerator that isn’t kept below 40°F.) The extremely accurate Taylor 1448 refrigerator thermometer costs only $9; their Weekend Warrior 806, $16, topped our tests of instant-read meat thermometers. Another $40 model from Weber boasts this gee-whiz wireless feature: You can check the temperature of your roasts from up to 300 feet away.
Essential Information: Find the top gear, gadgets, and gizmos and avoid the worst gotchas and gimmicks with our Holiday Shopping Guide.
Loophole: £25 off at Hot Diamonds – EXPIRED
Here’s one of those very rare offers that come along once a blue moon that you simply cannot pass up! The following information will allow you to get items to the value of over £30 absolutely free from Hot Diamonds, yes, free.
In order to get this discount please follow this link to the Hot [...]
With cash for clunkers for appliances on the horizon, appliance retailers are looking for Black Friday boost
The recession has slammed the appliance industry. Year-over-year shipments of major appliances, for example, were down 17 percent in September, according to the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers.
The $300 million State Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate Program is being ballyhooed as one way to unleash pent-up demand for refrigerators, dishwashers, washing machines, heating and cooling systems, and other major appliances. And though the U.S. Department of Energy will have finalized funding plans for the cash for clunkers for appliances program on November 30, the rebate programs in many states won't take place until 2010.
So appliance retailers are looking to Black Friday to boost their bottom line and kick-start sales throughout the 2009 holiday season. Here's a sneak peek at what some of them have in store:
Best Buy
Good through November 28, Best Buy's Black Friday specials cover large and small appliances, including the Dyson DC17 Animal vacuum for $350. The upright vacuum, which normally retails for as much as $550, was excellent on bare floors and very good on carpet in our tests. At 21 pounds, it’s among the harder vacuums to handle among those we've tested. If you need a new vacuum, check out our free buyer's guide to vacuums.
Home Depot
Home Depot
is keeping mum about its holiday sales, but like many retailers and
manufacturers this big-box chain encourages you to sign up for e-mail
alerts about special promotions.
Lowe's
Black Friday discounts on kitchen and laundry appliances will run through November 30 at Lowe's stores nationwide.
One highlight: Save around $400 on a matching Whirlpool Cabrio
WTW6340WW high-efficiency washing machine (similar to the tested WTW6300WW washer) and WED6200S[W] electric dryer.
Both units did a very good job overall in our tests. If you're in the
market for a new laundry gear, check out our free buyer's guides to washing machines and dryers.
Sears
Sears' 15 percent off all appliances deal covers a wide variety of appliances and brands. The offer expires at 9 p.m. on November 27. Our appliances hub has links to our buyer's guides for kitchen and laundry appliances.
While the big-box stores dominate the marketplace, you might want to consider shopping at independent retailers. As covered in our survey-based feature on the best places to buy appliances, independent stores beat out big-box retailers thanks to superior service, easier checkout, and more-knowledgeable staff.
Many mom-and-pop-shops are starting to match their in-store appeal with user-friendly Web sites. "Independents made good inroads in 2009 with enhanced Web presence, so consumers can enjoy shopping online from them as well," says Rick Weinberg, national merchandise manager at Nationwide Marketing Group, which represents thousands of appliance, electronics, and furniture dealers. That should make it even easier for you to sniff out sales on Black Friday or Cyber Monday. Weinberg also notes, "There has been a continuous stream [among independent retailers] of competitive promotions, creating price points and value the likes of which we've never seen."—Daniel DiClerico | e-mail | Twitter | Forums | Facebook
Essential information: Stay on top of the latest deals with our Holiday Shopping Guide and read Tightwad Tod's Black Friday survival pointers.
Loophole: £25 off at Hot Diamonds
Here’s one of those very rare offers that come along once a blue moon that you simply cannot pass up! The following information will allow you to get items to the value of over £30 absolutely free from Hot Diamonds, yes, free.
In order to get this discount please follow this link to the Hot [...]
Tip: Bargain Watches from Bluedial
If you are looking to give a gorgeous and special gift, you can’t go far wrong with a watch in my opinion and with Christmas just around the corner I am sure that gifts are at the forfront of everyone’s mind.
Have you started your Christmas shopping yet? Do you refuse to even think about [...]
In this turkey trot, TurboChef is faster than Electrolux Wave-Touch range and NuWave oven
As cooking appliances get faster, records continue to fall in our labs. The video (right) shows how the TurboChef 30" Double Wall Speedcook oven, using "Airspeed Technology," cranked out a nicely browned 13-pound turkey in a record 53 minutes. So if time is really of the essence—you'll have to shell out about $8,000 for a TurboChef—this dual oven could be for you.
No oven or range we've tested is as fast as the TurboChef, though the Electrolux Wave-Touch smoothtop electric range wasn't that far off—and costs about $6,000 less. With its Perfect Turkey setting that uses a meat probe to measure the internal temperature and adjust cooking time, it produced a juicy, 13-pound bird in 98 minutes, about half the time of most other electric ranges.
If you're on a much tighter budget, consider the $150 NuWave Pro Infrared Oven. Using direct heating, convection, and infrared cooking, in two hours it made a 10-pound turkey that was tasty and juicy with a moist interior, albeit a little bit overdone toward the outside. The NuWave oven is available with an extender ring that allows you to cook larger turkeys. e-mail | Twitter | Forums | Facebook
Essential information: Our recent post on Thanksgiving planning looked at grilling, deep-frying, and smoking turkey. Check out our new report on national brands of turkey stuffings and watch our video on carving a turkey. With Black Friday coming up, stay on top of the shopping deals by reading Tightwad Tod on our Money blog.
Learn more about the Amish heater and EdenPure space heater
The calendar indicates that heating season is upon us, but the Home & Garden blog team doesn't need to look at a thermometer or watch the Weather Channel to know it's starting to get colder here in the New York City metro area and elsewhere around the country.
Nope, all we've got to do is look at the traffic to and comments about heating appliances on the Home & Garden blog and ConsumerReports.org. Specifically, readers are looking for information about the Heat Surge Roll-n-Glow Electric Fireplace (aka the Amish heater), EdenPure space heaters, and pellet stoves.
• If you're considering the Heat Surge appliance, read our review of the Amish heater as well as our post about some consumer complaints to the Better Business Bureau. And remember, although Heat Surge claims its heaters will help you save on your heating bills, the only way to do so is to employ zone heating.
• If you're pondering buying an EdenPure space heater, read "Are EdenPure Space Heaters Just a Lot of Hot Air?"
• If a pellet stove seems like a viable heating option, learn more about these appliances in our October 2009 report and our previous buyer's guide to pellet- and wood-burning stoves.
Essential information: "Don't Let Energy Savings Go Up and Out the Chimney" covers proven ways to save energy during heating season. And learn about space heaters, programmable thermostats, and weatherizing your attic. If you're in the market for new heating equipment, get up to speed on the $300 million State Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate Program, aka cash for clunkers for appliances.
Contest: Fancy a $10,000 job with Charmin?
As a bargain hunter if there’s one thing I know how to do, it’s queue up!
I’m one of those people who will get a flask, a nice warm blanket and something to read and go sit out all night to wait for a store to open if they have something in there that I [...]