Maxwell & Williams "Microstoven"

Non-stick pot: Microstoven

by Maxwell & Williams

category: gadget, author:

Agamedes

bought in 2010, lasted till 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 3 out of 10: So bad it's embarrassing

About eighteen months ago we were given a present, a Maxwell & Williams non-stick cook-pot.

A beautiful pot with a clever name: Microstoven... Microstoven... get it? MICROwave + STOVE + OVEN... Clever, eh?

Here's the label from the bottom of the pot:

The pot feels great. Light and smooth. A pleasure to work with. And non-stick, the label says so.

There is more information on that label. A series of icons:

Garmin Oregon 550 / GPS

Garmin Oregon 550

category: handheld GPS, by:

Garmin

we bought a new GPS unit, in June 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 8 out of 10

We bought a new GPS -- global positioning system -- unit, to replace our aging Garmin eTrex. This is what we wanted... with the most important at the top of the list:

• Essential: a GPS to allow us to do "paperless geocaching". Our old eTrex does not support paperless geocaching.
  
• Essential: A GPS unit to guide us on "GPS walks". See, for example, Walk GPS. The eTrex is adequate for this.
  
• Nice to have: Street navigation -- largely to support our geocaching. We could use street navigation to drive as close as possible to a geocache.
  
• Nice to have: Guidance (minor roads, contours, etc) on 4WD treks would be useful.
  

First impressions of the Oregon

Terrific!

Let me qualify that: The device itself is terrific. The software is quite good but takes a while to understand. The user manuals are absolutely awful...

I spent many hours, sweating over PC and GPS, working my way through the basics. Some of it was absolutely dead simple -- once I figured out what to do. Perhaps it's the really simple stuff which is not adequately explained? Worse yet, you need to use several systems -- as well as the GPS. And, often, there are many alternatives -- with no explanation of which is best.

The Garmin manuals are awful. But most of the problems are not due to Garmin.

The essentials of paperless geocaching require the extraction of geocache data from the geocaching website, via the PC, to the GPS. Instructions on the geocaching website are weak, not helped by the requirement to be all things to all users. The Garmin instructions would benefit from an explanation of the essential approach to GPS files. In between -- are dozens of alternate pieces of software.

On the Garmin website, at least one set of instructions does not work as written -- on the steps which use Google Earth. The instructions are for overlaying a personal map on the GPS map -- not an essential for what we do. Everything else on the GPS (that I have tried so far) works fine -- once the initial understanding has been gained.

We have taken the GPS out for some paperless geocaching. It worked brilliantly! We learnt that street maps and street navigation would be really useful. We learnt how easily we -- the GPS users -- can forget some simple yet essential steps. Next outing will be even better:-)

Our first impressions are, that the Oregon is brilliant and that it does all that we hoped -- and it will do even more. Technically, it picks up satellite signals far quicker than the eTrex. It picks up signals where the eTrex could not. And the software offers features -- and ease of use -- that are way ahead of the eTrex.

Satisfied? You bet! Still learning? Definitely.

But how much does it cost?

You buy a GPS... but there are always extras. Here is what we bought, or are about to buy. With costs -- but note the explanation that follows the costs.

In my opinion -- the list provides an almost complete set of gear for effective paperless caching. You can skip the last item and you may want to add a TOPO map for your area (rrp $229 for my area). Apart from that, I suggest that you also carry a pen or pencil -- and a pocket-sized notebook, just in case:-)

Garmin code	item + comment	rrp in AUD
	Garmin Oregon 550 ... the GPS unit	$649
010-10850-20	hard carrying case ... intended use is for travelling, if the GPS travels in a suitcase	$45
010-10851-11	vehicle power cable ... saves GPS battery power while using the GPS in a car	$39
010-11-31-00	marine/cart mount ... for permanent fixing in our 4WD; the standard "car mount" uses a less secure suction cup	$39
	four spare NiMH rechargeable batteries ... for those days when there is just no mains power	$30
	8GB SanDisk MicroSD card ... to store the extra City Navigator maps (wrong! see *note*)	$50
010-11388-00	City Navigator maps on CD ... plus postage ... will need to be loaded onto the MicroSD card (wrong! see *note*); the CD version comes with extra route planning software for the PC	$195 $15
010-10997-02	premium heart rate monitor ... well, why not...	$89
	Total cost	$1,151

Explanation of costs:

All the costs are rrp (recommended retail price) in AUD (Australian dollars), direct from the Garmin website -- as at June 2010. Check the site to see if the rrp's have changed.

Various shops and websites offered various prices. We went with the "local" shop where our loyalty card gets us a 10% discount on rrp, for every purchase.

*note* (July 2010)

As I understood it -- and this is my own faulty assumption -- I thought that the CD version of the maps would be loaded onto a MicroSD card. As it turned out, the City Navigator maps simply loaded "somewhere" onto the inbuilt storage. How certain am I of this? Well...

One day, I collected a trojan virus from an internet site. I cleared the virus from my PC -- but it has copied onto the Garmin MicroSD card. Windows Explorer struggled to read the card, I gave up waiting and removed the card from the Garmin. The Garmin -- and its maps -- still run fine.

Since then I have found just one possibly useful use for a MicroSD card -- I could store my taken-by-the-GPS photos there. Meanwhile, I have decided that the GPS is fine for a single "locating" photo but I prefer to use a "real" camera for the "real" photos. That's just my preference.

I still have plenty of available photo space on "fixed" GPS storage. The MicroSD card is locked away, possibly forever. As it turns out, I should not have bought it.

So subtract $50 from the total cost to get a good GPS setup for geocaching.

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Bosch Maxx Lifestyle / washing machine

Bosch Maxx Lifestyle

category: front loading washing machine, manufactured by:

Bosch

We bought a new front loading washing machine in late 2008.

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10
(a combination of good wash with incomprehensible instructions)

After more than a year I am now happy that this washing machine does get clothes clean. No worries there -- now. For the first few months, I struggled.

First, it's a front loader. I'm tired of kneeling down, throwing something in, watching it fall out again. And -- the well known problem -- once you press Start, there is no going back. No changing your mind. No pause to add just one more item to the wash.

Next, it's supposed to be energy efficient. Also -- according to the woman at the customer service help desk -- it's water efficient: less load, less water. I've been recycling grey water, catching used water in the laundry tub. As far as I can tell, any size load uses just as much water. No water efficiency there... Is there any truth in the energy efficiency claim?

That same customer service lady told me to always leave empty space at the top of the washer; to not fill it "too full" of clothes. No mention of that in the instruction book. Which brings me to the instruction book.

Wash score 8, instructions 4

Here's how I think the instruction book was written:

• A bunch of German Laundry Engineers put the washing machine through its paces. They all understood water circulation, detergent chemistry, the adhesive properties of various categories of dirt. Not one of them had ever washed a load of their own washing. Not one of them had ever watched "a real person" do a load of laundry.
  
• These Laundry Engineers calculated the most efficient and effective ways of cycling water and detergent through clothes. Probably published several papers, in the Monthly Journal of Laundry Engineering.
  
• They then documented the best wash cycles in a very compact and language-independent form. Failed to test their documentation standards on real people.
  
• And totally failed to explain which cycle is most appropriate in which washing circumstance.
  

Right from the word go, the Bosch washing machine instructions fail every test of suitability for purpose. The rest of this post is an example, from my my3Rs blog, of how not to write an instruction manual (Poor Literacy a Hazard).

Bosch botches laundry manual

The cover page says, "Read these instructions before switching on the washing machine! Also follow the separate installation instructions. Follow the safety instructions on page 11!" So I need to read these twelve pages. Plus the separate and missing installation instructions. And the best place to start appears to be on page 11.

So I start with the safety instructions on page 11...

Most of it seems fairly standard: Some pointers on safe use of an electrical appliance; warning of the risk of posioning (sic) from detergents; an instruction to not climb on the washing machine. I'm a bit worried by the warning, "Caution when draining hot detergent solution." I use cold and dry powder. Where is this dangerous "hot detergent solution"?!

I skip back to page 9: Detergent-solution pump. This tells me how to drain a "Detergent-solution pump". What?! What is a "Detergent-solution pump"? When would I drain it? Why would I drain it... whatever it is?! Whatever it is, it does seem to introduce a "Risk of scalding!" -- which is a new risk, not mentioned in the Safety instructions of page 11.

Oh well, back to page 11. "Risk of explosion"... Perhaps I should avoid using this machine. It seems to be very dangerous. Specially since I have not been properly trained in its use.

Ah... forget it... Let's just follow the instructions for use...

Page 2: Your washing machine

"Congratulations..." Okay, I made a good choice. Must have, the instructions tell me so.

"Environmental disposal: Dispose of packaging in an environmentally friendly manner" -- with a picture of a wheelie bin -- with a big X through it. What? Do not put the packaging in the bin? What am I supposed to do, dump it on a vacant block?

Okay, ignore that, too. Let's see how to wash clothes with this washing machine...

"Programmes". This looks good. It's a list of all the pre-set combinations of wash/soak/rinse/spin cycles. Yes, a list... with instructions to "see Page 7" for a detailed overview. (By the way, this short list of programmes is split across pages 1 and 2. Just for your reading inconvenience.) So, I turn to page 7.

The first line of page 7 says, "See also page 6".

Page 6 is "Important information". Including -- the second section -- "Before washing for the first time".

Enough!

I close the instruction manual. Shove in some dirty clothes. Click the selector knob to "Mixed load". Put laundry detergent into one of the three possible spaces (hoping that I picked the right one) and press go... (Actually, it's worse than that because the "go" button is touch sensitive. Sometimes it ignores the touch. Sometimes it flicks on and off several times, if it's feeling really sensitive. But that's another issue.)

Then I walk away and hope for the best. And start to read War And Peace, because it's much clearer than the instruction manual, and makes a lot more sense.

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Breville Stratus / kettle

Breville Stratus

(category: kettle)
by

Breville

We bought a new kettle, in 2009

Agamedes' opinion: 5 out of 10

It's a cord-free kettle. It boils water. There's not much more, on the "plus" side... So let's consider the facts which make me dislike this kettle.

This kettle is supposed to turn itself off when the water boils. How long are you willing to wait? It boils, and boils and boils... Full, vigorous roiling & boiling... Then, finally, it will turn off. Sure, it works -- eventually. I would prefer to see a kettle which boils and then turns itself off. Then there's the lid. Press a button and the lid pops open -- barely. There is a spring but the spring is far too weak. If the lid is going to open, it should open all the way. As it is -- if you want to fill the kettle from the tap -- you press the button and then manually lift the lid the rest of the way.

Oh yes, there is one more "plus": If you lift the kettle off its power supply, it does switch off. So if you lift up, pour hot water, put it back on the base -- the kettle will not continue to heat. That's a sensible safety precaution.

But with a dodgy lid and slow-to-react cut-off, I will be looking for a better kettle, next time.

Addendum (June 2010)

Remember the slow turn-off when it boils? And the weak spring helping to open the lid? (I hope you remember... It's what I wrote about, just a few paragraphs above this...)

There's yet another problem... the catch to hold the lid closed, is too weak.

When the kettle boils -- it boils on and on. Long past the point at which a person would have said, this kettle is boiling, turn off. There is plenty of time for the steam in the boiling kettle to build up pressure. That steam pressure -- forces the lid open!

If you let the kettle boil -- expecting that the auto-shut-off will automatically shut it off -- then the lid may pop open. It pops fully open -- the steam pressure has more power than the worthless lid-opening spring.

Worse yet: with the lid now open, the kettle will not stop boiling. So the kettle will boil on... and on... and on. Presumably, till it boils down, catches fire, burns the house down and starts a repeat of the Great Fire of Wherever-you-live.

Look, I would love it if you followed the link to Amazon, bought a kettle (or anything else) and earned me a small commission. And yes, the link is to a Breville kettle. Just make sure that what you buy is better than a Breville Stratus.

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.