[November 22, 2009] The Akron Beacon Journal, Ohio, Betty Lin-Fisher column: Does it work? Test team returns to try out new products advertised on television Tweet Nov 22, 2009 (The Akron Beacon Journal - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- The Beacon Journal's "Does it Work?" team is back, having tested 15 new products to see if they're worth your hard-earned money. Our team of testers -- food writer Lisa Abraham, home writer Mary Beth Breckenridge and myself, the consumer writer -- tried items that could be given as gifts, as well as a few products that might be purchased for use around the house. We went to some local shops to find products we've seen advertised on TV or in a store that made us wonder whether they work as promised and are worth buying. So get out your holiday lists and compare them to our results to see if you still want them. As we say each time we do this, these are not scientific tests. These are just three people trying products out in our daily lives or during some testing sessions to see whether they stand up to their claims. We are a little opinionated, but hopefully that's helpful. Today's installment will be followed by more product reviews in the Beacon Journal's Food section on Wednesday and the Home section on Saturday. You can also go online to http://www.ohio.com to see video of us testing a few of the products and some banter while we do it. Maybe we'll save you some money by telling you to ' "Skip It." Or we'll find you a great product with a verdict of "Snap It Up." Still other times, we might neither love nor hate the product, or have some reservations, and give it a rating of "It Depends." You'll notice that we don't always agree -- so you can take our assessments and make up your own mind. So on to the results. Jack LaLanne's Power Juicer While there are many juicers on the market, we picked this one up at a home goods store because it had quite a few claims. But it wasn't cheap at $99.99. This product says it's the "ultimate juicing machine" and you can make "fast, healthy, fresh juice in seconds." It has special patented extraction technology and says it produces up to 30 percent more juice than others. There is "no slicing, no dicing, no peeling, use the whole fruit." We tried juicing several different things, including a whole apple like the picture on the box showed (smaller apples worked, but you have to cut most regular apples down in order to fit in the chute). We tried oranges with the peel still on, carrots, celery and pineapple (we did take the skin off). All of the fruits and veggies produced juice, though we were bothered that the juicer didn't come with a container to catch the juices. It was also pretty messy because it lacked a splash guard. Another big mess was the detachable pulp collector. Yes, it did collect a lot of pulp, but in general, there's quite a bit of cleanup after you get your cup of juice. Mary Beth and I gave the juicer an "It Depends" rating while Lisa gave it a "Skip It." Mary Beth said, "To me, it was a big mess that I wouldn't want to repeat every day, but it worked. Despite the mess, it did its job." I don't have much experience with juicers, so I was intrigued by the juice coming out of the various vegetables and apples, but I expected more juice and less cleanup. Lisa said, "For $100, I thought it lacked a splash shield, which would have improved it worlds. I didn't like the way the pulp leaked out of the top." Verdicts: Betty: It Depends. Lisa: Skip It. Mary Beth: It Depends. Windshield Wonder The Windshield Wonder claims it makes cleaning windshields fast and easy shining with plain water. The product, which costs $9.99, comes with a 16-inch handle and two microfiber pads that stretch over a flat product head that can swivel. The microfiber pads can also be thrown in the wash. We put regular water into the spritzer bottle, which was included, and cleaned the inside of Lisa's car windshield. "To be able to angle the inside, I'm sold," Lisa said. Mary Beth said she liked the design. "I don't know whether water cleans as well as cleaner, but I like that you can reach the inside." I liked the swivel handle, but I was a little concerned that the water could leave streaks or spots on the windows as we cleaned various inside and outside windows of Lisa's car. "I like not having to use chemicals, but I wonder if car buffs will think it does a good enough job," I said. Verdicts: Betty: It Depends. Lisa: Snap It Up. Mary Beth: Snap It Up. Touch N Brush My kids were definitely intrigued by the commercials they'd seen on TV for the Touch N Brush, the hands-free toothpaste dispenser. The product says it "dispenses the perfect amount of your favorite toothpaste . . . instantly!" The box says the product is easy to install with no tools required. It "eliminates messy, sticky bathroom sinks . . . forever!" We're not quite sure exactly how it works, but once you insert your toothpaste upside down into the product, you push the lever and toothpaste comes out. The dispenser has a cover and can be adhered to a bathroom mirror using the suction cups or there is also an adhesive disk that can be used for walls. It took quite a bit of force to get the toothpaste tube into the hole of the dispenser, but once we got it on, it stayed and did dispense toothpaste. We also tried an almost-empty toothpaste tube to see if it would get toothpaste out and it did. But overall, we questioned the need for the product at $19.99 -- especially since it still created quite a mess in the dispenser area of toothpaste. While the toothpaste is spared from being all over the counter by normal methods, I felt that if I let my kids use this or even used it myself, I'd constantly be cleaning up the goop in the dispenser. Is it really that hard to squeeze your toothpaste tube, I wondered? I also wondered whether it might be helpful for a senior citizen who has trouble squeezing a toothpaste tube, but Mary Beth pointed out that person would still need to forcibly get the tube into the dispenser. Mary Beth said, "It worked fine, but it was kind of pointless." Lisa said, "While it does dispense the right amount [of toothpaste], it does invite a mess." We all gave it a thumbs down Verdicts: Betty: Skip It. Lisa: Skip It. Mary Beth: Skip It. Jupiter Jack Our initial skepticism of this product was won over shortly when we were pleasantly surprised by the clarity of the Jupiter Jack in a first test, only to have our ratings fall when we tested it a second time. The Jupiter Jack, which sells for $19.99, promises to make your cell phone hands-free by turning your car radio into a speaker phone. In our initial tests, the three of us took turns calling from Mary Beth's car using the Jupiter Jack and then my new car, which has Bluetooth technology built in for hands-free speaking to compare the sound. The sound quality was initially pretty good -- there was a marked difference between my Bluetooth system and using the radio, but we figured that would happen since I paid a lot more money for my Bluetooth system. But then we realized that we were testing the Jupiter Jack in cars that were parked and thought perhaps we should try the same test while driving, which is more realistic with car and road noises. That's when the real results happened. I drove around some side streets and highways of Akron calling Mary Beth and Lisa using both my Bluetooth system in my car and then turning it off and using the Jupiter Jack. The results? Mary Beth and Lisa could hardly hear me whenever I called from the road using the Jupiter Jack. They said I sounded like I was in a tunnel, patchy or sometimes they just couldn't understand me at all. When I'd immediately call back on my Bluetooth, they could hear me just fine. Mary Beth had an additional frustration with the Jupiter Jack. While it comes with multiple adapters, none of them worked on Mary Beth's or Lisa's phones, so Mary Beth called to order an adapter. As what often happens when you call to order products seen on TV, she got bombarded with messages asking if she'd want to buy extras she didn't want and she had to pay extra shipping. Nearly three weeks later, she still doesn't have the adapter. We were, however, able to use the adapter on the first eight other co-workers' phones we tried in the Beacon Journal newsroom, so it's apparently only Lisa and Mary Beth's models in our newsroom that didn't fit the adapters. I love my Bluetooth and not having to hold my cell phone in my hand while driving (which studies have shown is dangerous). But this isn't the product to use. Verdicts: Betty: Skip It. Lisa: Skip It. Mary Beth: Skip It. Laptop holders With more people using laptop computers these days, we thought a laptop holder might make for a good present. So we picked up two versions of laptop holders at the home store -- the Mega My Place Cozy, which is a personal work station with a built-in cushion and LED light for $19.99, and the My Place personal laptop/multi-function work station for $29.99. We thought we'd try them for ease of use and comfort using my laptop. They could also probably be used for homework or reading. The picture on the box also shows it as a lap desk for eating a meal. We were not impressed. The two holders we tried didn't really have nonslip surfaces, despite the Cozy saying it did. My laptop slid right off. When I opened up the back zipper to put a battery in for the LED light, it revealed that the desk was really made of a piece of styrofoam and that piece had already ripped before I opened it. The My Place multi-function work station was a hard surface with multiple pre-set angle positions and seemed a little more manageable, but was still a little too high for all three of us to be comfortable. Lisa said she wasn't totally down on the multi-function work station but definitely didn't like the Cozy. Mary Beth didn't like it, either. "I don't think it's a bad idea. It'd be fine if you didn't have all the gadgets and had a bean bag with a board," she said. I also like the idea, but I think you can spend your money on a nicer, more practical one. Verdicts: Betty: Skip both. Lisa: Skip the Cozy; It Depends on the My Place multi-function station. Mary Beth: Skip both. Prices of products vary. Online or TV orders might incur extra charges for delivery. Have you seen an advertised product and wondered if it really lives up to its claims? You can suggest items to be reviewed by Lisa Abraham, Mary Beth Breckenridge and Betty Lin-Fisher by sending e-mail to labraham@ thebeaconjournal.com or calling 330-996-3737; mbreckenridge@ thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3756, or blinfisher@ thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3724. To see more of the Akron Beacon Journal, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.ohio.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The Akron Beacon Journal, Ohio Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]