I look forward to waking up ever since buying the Cuisinart Coffee-on-Demand 12-cup Coffeemaker!

Ok maybe that’s a bit over-zealous of me; I mean I have 3 great kids and an amazing husband to wake up to each morning, but I have to say this coffee maker is awwwesome! It’s like having a 7-11 in my kitchen, where I can push the lever and get me some java-love in a hurry-like.

The Mr. and I got this coffeemaker as a gift about 6 months ago and what a fantastic gift it has been! We have used it everyday since tearing the box open like kids at Christmas as soon as we could make out the word “coffee” through the wrapping paper. We tore it open so fast that we lost the directions and still managed to set it up and figure out how to set the timer without a problem.

What’s great about this Cuisinart coffeemaker is the design.

The fact that the coffee is made up top and stored in an insulated bin in the same space just makes sense. A coffeepot that allows you to press the lever and get coffee whenever you want is ingenious.

In comparison, we owned a $150 Krups coffeemaker that was no where near as easy to use as the Coffee-on-demand coffeemaker and used the standard auto-drip / carafe design whereas coffee was regularly wasted due to getting cold. Cold coffee isn’t a problem with this coffeemaker because the coffee stays nice and toasty in the confines of the bin up top.

This coffeemaker uses the standard drip technique to brew the coffee in a removable plastic bin which is easy to take out and clean. It also comes with a metal mesh basket, so you can forego filters should you so choose. We are cheap, so needless to say, we never buy coffee filters any more.

The only minor issue I have with this coffeemaker is the fact that the area where the water goes into the coffeemaker is pretty small, so I have to keep a small pitcher with a spout near by for pouring water into it. I still manage to drip water down the sides and have to wipe the stainless steel surface quickly so it doesn’t get water streaks on the side.

Cuisinart DCC-2000 Coffee-on-Demand Quick Review:

Purchased: Well we didn’t because it was a gift, but we eyeballed it at Bed Bath and Beyond for a good long time. It was going for $110 bucks at the time.

Cuisinart DCC-2000 Coffee-on-Demand 12-cup Programmable Coffeemaker Benefits:

• Coffee doesn’t get cold because it’s stored in a mostly-sealed container at the top of the coffeemaker
• Easy to use timer and clock settings
• Ability to use paper filters or the mesh basket that’s included
• No glass carafe or easily-breakable parts
• Getting coffee by pressing a lever = priceless!

Cuisinart DCC-2000 Coffee-on-Demand 12-cup Programmable Coffeemaker Drawbacks:

• The area where water goes into the coffeemaker is pretty small and causes spills
• Stainless steel is a pain to clean if you spill water on it

The Mrs. gives the Cuisinart DCC-2000 Coffee-on-Demand 12-cup Programmable Coffeemaker 5/5
Because this is by and large the most used kitchen appliance we own. We use it each day, sometimes more than once and it never lets us down. Somebody with smarts designed this product!

If you need replacement filter basket for the Cuisinart DCC-2000 Coffee-on-Demand 12-cup Programmable Coffeemaker: You can get the Cuisinart GTF-B Gold Tone Coffee Filter on Amazon pretty easily. Mine is still going strong after daily use – so they hold up pretty well!

Additional notes: We also have the Cuisinart burr-mill coffee grinder that kicks some major arse too! Make sure to check out that review if you need a coffee maker and grinder combo – look no further!

I’ve owned the Panasonic TH-42PX60U 42″ Plasma HDTV for about a year now – I’m no TV-o-phile, so I am reviewing this as an average person with average intelligence and a nack for electronics.

I did my homework when I bought this TV; I poured over the geekiest of TV geek forums for reviews, comments and ratings. For the price – I found this TV to fit my budget and even more so when I scored it with a major DirecTv rebate from Best Buy. Being I needed a new Satellite setup anyways, I made the switch from Dish Network and was soon enjoying my new HDTV setup for under $1200.

The Mr. & I skipped the ridiculous in home setup at Best Buy and opted to buy the hanging hardware at Costco for about $80 and did the install ourselves. The DirecTv dude ran the cables and we hooked it up easily without looking at the instructions (who needs stinking instructions anyways?). I did however print out some setup instructions from the local TV nerd forum that were super easy and I lo-and-behold we were watching the Discovery channel in all of its HDTV glory. I swore those antelope were going to jump out of the TV at us Here are the settings I use:

Picture Mode: Standard
Picture: +22
Brightness: +8
Color: -1
Tint: -4
Sharpness: -14
Color Temperature: Warm

I have to say that over the past year we have watched this TV it has been good to us. We haven’t had to go out of our way to do any calibration (like the old rear projection big screens) or change any settings really. The initial setup was the only time we realy ever messed with the menus. I would say that the average person would find this TV as maintenance free as we did. Obviously this isn’t a review from someone who sits around reviewing TVs all day, but from a mom that watches TV in the evenings after running a business and chasing 3 kids all day.

Before I bought this TV I was told over and over by friends and family to buy an LCD instead of a plasma TV because they last longer; I threw caution to the wind on this purchase because the price was right. After a year of daily use it is still as good as it was the day we bought it. If anything changes, I will certainly update this post – but for now I love this TV and I believe it was a great buy. I read about a hundred reviews from others that said this TV gave the most bang for the buck in its price range.

Panasonic makes some great TV’s and the predecessors to this one are no exception from what I’ve read. When it’s time to ditch the 65″ rear projection TV in the living room – We will likely go with another Panasonic; They know TV’s.

Panasonic TH-42PX60U 42″ Plasma TV Quick Review:

Purchased: Best Buy

Panasonic TH-42PX60U 42″ Plasma HDTV Benefits:

• Great picture quality and contrast
• Easy to navigate menus
• Intuitive setup
• Good feature set for the money
• SD card slot in the front of the TV is easy to access and use

Panasonic TH-42PX60U 42″ Plasma HDTV Drawbacks:

• Out of the box the picture is nasty. Be sure to use the settings listed above for the best picture on this TV

The Mrs. gives Panasonic TH-42PX60U 42″ Plasma HDTV 5/5
Because for the price this TV is a good buy and has held up well over the past year (despite know-it-all friend’s recommendations).

Additional notes: If you own one of these and ever need parts for TH-42PX60U 42″ Plasma HDTV (just in case!) You can get them for really good prices on ebay. Here are some links to various Panasonic TV parts for this model:

Ebay search for Panasonic TH-42PX60U Replacement Remote Control

Ebay search for Panasonic TH-42PX60U Infrared Remote Sensor TNPA3762AG

Ebay search for Panasonic TH-42PX60U Key Control Board TNPA3965AC

Ebay search for Panasonic TH-42PX60U Power Supply TNPA3911

Ebay search for Panasonic TH-42PX60U Replacement Speakers

Ebay search for Panasonic TH-42PX60USD Card Reader TNPA3853

Ebay search for Panasonic TH-42PX60USD Wall mount kit

With all of the links above you could practically re-build your TV if you needed to. Gotta love ebay!

My 3 year old daughter will not put her V-tech KidiZoom Kids Camera down!

So – my youngest turned 3 last November and we bought her the Vtech Kidizoom camera and I kid-you-not she asks to play with it just about every waking moment.

I have a digital SLR and love to take photos, so naturally she has been witness and victim to my many “photo shoots”. I think this spawned her budding love of photography. Initially I purchased the camera thinking that she may or may not like it. Being that it’s a real digital camera, it is quite a bit more expensive than a “play” camera, but none-the-less I decided to chance it. From the moment she tore open the package she has been snapping hundreds of photos of things like electrical sockets, chair legs, her brother and sister at odd angles and the carpet.

I think it’s really cute, but others in the house become annoyed when they are being photographed every waking moment.

The camera itself takes photos that aren’t even one megapixel (.3 megapixels to be exact) and that means the photos are pretty crappy if you want to look at them on anything other than the preview screen on the back of the camera; much less print them (forget about it). I knew that going into this though and the joy on my daughters face is worth what I paid, but it would be great to actually print some of the photos that she takes. Sometimes she accidentally (or maybe purposefully) takes some photos that are really pretty cool!

VTech KidiZoom Kids Camera Quick Review:

Purchased: Toys R Us for $60 bucks on sale

You can get this camera on Ebay for a good price usually (less than I paid)

VTech KidiZoom Kids Camera Benefits:

• Fun – even for toddlers
• Easy to use interface (a 3 yr old can figure it out)
• Preview screen on the back (some of the others don’t have this)
• Sturdy enough to withstand being dropped
• Better than other kids cameras on the market at present (I researched pretty thoroughly)
• Can expand memory with a standard SD card (don’t use anything else or it won’t work)

VTech KidiZoom Kids Camera Drawbacks:

• Very low resolution
• Runs on AA batteries which can run low after just a few days (depending on use)
• Use of MicroSD or MiniSD causes the camera to crash

The Mrs. gives VTech KidiZoom Kids Camera a 4/5
I could have given this a 5 if it was rated just on how happy my daughter is when she uses this camera, but being the nerd I am, I would have been more happy with it if the resolution allowed me to print the photos.