As Seen On TV
You've Seen Them Advertised...
They All Say Their Products Are Great - But Are They??

KITCHEN
Popeil Rotisserie Oven
Their motto is set it and forget it, which is a tongue and cheek
statement as they clarify in their manual. We found that this
oven is perfect for anybody who loves the taste of "rotissed"
chicken.

It is small enough to sit on a countertop and cooks things just
like the pros.  It costs under $200 and includes some accessories
which make using it easier. We found that cleaning the oven can
be troublesome even if prepared with aluminum foil. We liked it
enough to buy two, and think it is a great product even for those
who can't cook you can't go wrong.


Rotato Rotating Vegetable Peeler
This product is very cheaply made, but includes several replacement
blades. For anybody who hates to peel by hand this product is a 
must. We found the blades jam regularly with vegetable skin, and
can be tricky to unclog properly otherwise an excellent product.
A really good idea we would like to see improved upon.

Salad Chopper
You probably have seen the original advertisement. We don't
even remember why we bought this thing in the first place is
probably what you will be thinking months later.  We did find this
product to be incredibly useful for making finely chopped items
such as salsa or spinach, otherwise not that handy and certainly not
worth more than a few bucks unless you cook a lot.


HOME
Pur Royalty Water Filtration System
While the water was exceptionally well filtered, tasted great
and exceeds coin operated filtered water, we found the 
actual construction of the device to be cheaply made
and over-priced. You get what closely resembles a cooler
with a spigot except their version costs $149.

The filter definitely sets this system apart which excels our
expectations.  The filter is very large, multi-chambered and 
extremely effective. Overall we consider this system the top in its class.
The water tested to filter out practically all the pollutants in our test.

Teledyne Water Pick
This system is found commonly in chain stores and often costs
only $10 or less. A charcoal based filter comes with it.
Installation can be cumbersome and ours leaked a bit even
after careful installation. When we first turned the unit on it
poured of black residue, presumably from the charcoal core.

The replacement filters are also cheap. Our tests of the water
using this filter were very poor. We would only recommend this
filter for those who wish to change the taste of their water and
not for those looking for any real filtration. This product would
make a good companion to the Pur Royalty system, and when
used in conjunction, the water is of the highest in quality and taste.

Reusable Coffee Filter
A new plastic based filter is being sold around the country, before
you could buy a stainless steel one. We are all for this product
not only do you save money but you also save a few trees while
you are at it. It runs under $2 bucks and are available from different
companies.


AUTOMOTIVE
Californeon Automotive Light Kit
Perhaps one of the cooler of car products we tested, but it is
apt to a few problems. First it shows the lights used on helmets
and across car door jams and in other situations that aren't
practically possible with a single kit. 

It also misleadingly states that you can cut it just like tape-
which is only true for the colored film which is basically a
translucent tape - and doesn't not apply to the actual lights.

We found the light set very easy to destroy by hooking up
incorrectly and we advise calling the 800 number on the package.
Even with the faults the kit is a great product and costs under $40.


ELECTRONICS
Delorme GPS Tripmate
The tripmate is a discontinued product and is available cheaply
directly from the manufacturer. Discontinued and probably for
good reason; we found these units not to be NMEA compatible
as often stated and that it required expensive software to
make it work correctly.

We never did get our unit to work properly. It costs $50.


Tracphone Prepaid Cellular Phones
We opted for a Nokia 252 model phone, and found the product
and services to be reasonably priced alternative for those who
don't plan on using a cell phone often enough to justify a regular
account.

Our biggest gripe about this product is the ridiculous use of 
incremental billing which means even while the phone is ringing you
are chewing up air units. Nextel and other providers use what is known
as zero increment billing which don't count certain things against you.

Sony Glasstron / Iglasses
These are LCD glasses or "goggles" which allow you to watch
TV even when lying down flat on your back or face down.
The glasses are lightweight but are a little bit uncomfortable to
wear after a few minutes of use. 

The picture quality is very clear and sharp; although the pixels 
are too noticeable to make this product a complete TV replacement. 
The resolution weighs in at some 180,000 little cells, however it 
would roughly need to be double that. (your eyes scrutinize 
the pixels since the screen is so close).  to be really impressive.

NOTE: We lumped these two products together because we formed an 
identical opinion of both items.


Radioshack 2.4 GHz Wireless Video Transmitter
If you are sick of wires everywhere this is the way to go before
dragging that cable wire all over the house, plus it transmits through
walls and does it very well even with satellite.

We would have liked to see a price 1/3 as much as the retail price on 
this product but it delivers on its performance. We noticed a substantial
amount of heat being produced and recommend turning off the receiver
when its not being used. It costs around $99.
 

MUSIC
Yamaha DJX IIB Digital Turntables
We found this product even though moderately priced, to be loads
of fun for those who are musically inclined or NOT, with complete
MIDI compatibility you can expand its functionality by hooking
up a MIDI keyboard or controller. 

In addition you can sync the product to other devices including
standard audio equipment. Mode 0 MIDI files can also be uploaded
using the including Launchpad software - although we found translating
them to use the correct voices to be an awkward process.
This product costs under $250 and is a must for anyone wanting to
add a touch of hip-hop or dance music into their lives.


INTERNET
NetZero Free ISP Service
We had many troubles getting this software to correctly install and
still have yet to get it to function correctly on our test machine.
Albeit our test machine has very uncommon software installed including
programming languages and compilers that aren't present on the common
PC users machines.

We have successfully tested this ISP on another machine and found that
NetZero had little or no busy signals, dropped connections and was very
responsive and provided a very efficient service. The service is free however
we suggest anyone that is a power or super power user to try it but don't
expect it to work in some situations.


MindSpring ISP Service
We found the MindSpring software to have a major bug which didn't
allow a creation of new accounts under certain circumstances, but with
a mindful install the software worked as expected.

We found the ISP offered the fastest service in our particular area
(compared to two other local ISPs). We were disconnected about every
four hours. We found there to be virtually no busy signals or bad connects.

Our biggest complaint is that the new account creation required calling it in
as it never did activate using the online only signup.

Y@P Phone
This product uses an underlying Net2Phone licensed network and includes
a very odd looking USB "phone" which is basically a HID (Human Interface
Device) with a redial and mute button.  The "phone" works pretty well
and the quality is of phone quality or slightly better.

The YAP phone is prone to network traffic problems and other kinks
VOIP (voice over IP) has when using the 'Net. We found it to work
best when not being used during primetime web usage hours. We recommend
this product for those with faster connections than 56K but it will work
with your standard modem, however absolutely nothing slower than 56K.



DISCLAIMER:
The opinions expressed are the opinions of the writer, and do not necessarily
express those of WebNovice Online or the publishers.

Not responsible for any errors or omissions. All statements made are those
of an independent tester and does not necessarily indicate experiences anyone
else may have as individual results may vary widely. 

All statements were made after objective tests were performed under average
conditions (unless otherwise noted). All trademarks are owned by their respective
companies and we are not affiliated with or endorsed by any of the companies listed.