Consumer Reports articles from December 2006

Consumer Reports archives from December 2006

Have you heard? Judging wine with another scale.
December 1, 2006... A friend of mine used to work in radio. She never wore a watch. When I asked her why, she said that she was so used to editing down to fractions of seconds that minutes and hours were easy to estimate. I, on the other hand, like to see the...

Is that safe to eat? A guide to the funky foods in your kitchen.(food preservation)
December 1, 2006... I went spelunking in my freezer and unearthed a burger patty from 2004. Should I toss it? In a freezer set at 0[degrees] F (check using a refrigerator thermometer), frozen foods remain safe indefinitely. How long taste and texture stay OK...

CR's tips for holiday flying (sans sleigh).(airlines)
December 1, 2006... Air travel might not be merry this season. Passenger loads are at a record high, and at press time you could not even carry eggnog aboard unless you bought it after the security checkpoint. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "I don't want to come...

Smart For Two.(Mercedes-Benz's )(Product/service evaluation)
December 1, 2006... Product: Smart For Two Full report: www.ConsumerReports.org; click on Cars, then on New Cars. Mercedes-Benz's French-built two-seat Smart ForTwo has been sold in Europe since 1998 and recently became available in Canada. A redesigned...

Electric shavers a cut below.(Buyers guide)
December 1, 2006... An electric shaver can be convenient when there's no soap and water to be found, and you can avoid nicks, since the blades don't touch your skin. But that's about the limit of the good news we gathered during recent tests. Most electric...

Gift-card gotchas.(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... Gift cards eliminate the headache of choosing a perfect present, but the recipients might find some cards a pain in the neck. Many come with enough fees and restrictions that you might be better off giving a check. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]...

Why one shoe costs $426 more.(Manolo Blahnik)
December 1, 2006... Ever wonder why you can buy a pair of shoes for about $50 while a similar pair from another brand could make you miss a mortgage payment? We did. So we paid $69 for black pumps by Nine West and $495 for similar shoes by Manolo Blahnik (the guy...

Ah-chooo! ... Ahhhh.(tissue papers)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... The claim. Tons of tissues say they're soft on the schnozz, especially now that sneezing season is approaching. We tested six that make that claim in their ads or on their boxes. While we were at it, we also checked their strength. The...

Ethanol.(Your Letters)(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2006... Your October article on ethanol is informative, but the title, "The Ethanol Myth," is unfortunate since you're stating facts. Current technology aims at producing ethanol cost competitively with gasoline on a fuel-economy basis. There is every...

Benzene in beverages.(Your Letters)(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2006... Your October story "Beverage Ingredients Can Form Carcinogen" caught my eye because my son likes the orange soda pictured. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the diet green tea I had been drinking (in large quantities because of the...

Corrections.(Correction notice)
December 1, 2006... A camera featured on the November cover, the Kodak EasyShare P880, is not a digital SLR, as we indicated, but an advanced compact camera. The October report "Auto Batteries" incorrectly listed the warranty for the Interstate MT and MTP...

The deaths of two toddlers prompt a recall of Playskool tool bench.(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... Playskool is voluntarily recalling more than a quarter-million Team Talkin' Tool Bench toys after two small children suffocated when an oversized plastic nail from the toy became lodged in the throat. The fatalities of the two boys, a...

F forward firestreet scooters sold at Target stores.(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... Handlebars, wheels, and brakes can break and detach. If that happens, the rider could lose control, fall, and possibly suffer serious injuries. Products: 185,000 aluminum scooters, model number BZ 020 SP, sold 2/04 through 7/06 for about...

Suave kids bath set sold at Wal-Mart stores.(bath products recalled)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... Items in bath sets contain small parts that pose a choke hazard to young children. Also, plastic carrying case poses suffocation hazard and handle on case is long enough to pose a strangulation hazard. Products: 11,000 bath sets sold 3/06...

Lego Explore super truck.(LEGO Systems Inc. recalls)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... Plastic wheels can detach and expose metal axle. That poses puncture hazard to young children. Products: 358,000 toys sold 8/02 through 8/04 at Toys "R" Us, Wal-Mart, and other stores for about $20. Super Truck features a red plastic...

Olympus infinity zoom 76 and promaster infinity twin 35mm film cameras.(Olympus America Inc.)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... Defect in flash circuitry could cause camera to smoke and overheat. That poses burn hazard. Products: 24,000 cameras sold 1/89 through 12/95 for $220 to $365. This recall is an expansion of an earlier action, in March 2006, which involved...

Oregon and silver streak replacement blades for snapper riding lawn mowers.(Blount International Inc. recalls)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... Can break apart and strike anyone nearby, posing laceration hazard. Products: 94,000 blades sold 11/02 through 8/06 at power- and yard-equipment dealers and hardware stores for $16 to $28. Blades were sold for use as replacement parts under...

Best gifts in 50 + categories.(Buyers guide)(Cover story)
December 1, 2006... We've tried to do some of the work for you this holiday season. Here are great gift ideas--the best products from our tests--for everyone on your list, whether they like to cook, eat, shop, work out, listen to music, take photographs, or putter...

HD for the holidays.(high definition television)(Buyers guide)
December 1, 2006... It's shaping up to be a high-definition holiday season. Sales of HDTVs are expected to climb by about 30 percent over last year. By the time the final whistle blows at Super Bowl XLI in February, about one in five U.S. households will own at...

Electronics best places to buy.(online shopping survey)(Survey)
December 1, 2006... Online merchants and independent local stores may be your best bets for buying electronics. That's according to the nearly 20,000 readers recently surveyed by the Consumer Reports National Research Center. The Internet, in particular, is...

Wine: values in reds & chardonnay.(wineries)(Buyers guide)
December 1, 2006... Finding an excellent wine that's also affordable--say, under $20--is difficult but not impossible. In this year's Ratings, we've identified two excellent zinfandels and three chardonnays. In all, there are 15 CR Best Buys among our Quick Pick...

Information from Consumer Reports[R] for Canadian readers.(consumer electronics)(Buyers guide)
December 1, 2006... How to use the Canada Extra section Every month, Canada Extra provides Canadian pricing and availability information about products tested for that issue. The Ratings in this section are based on this month's reports, but they narrow your...

Mail-order food: for assorted tastes.(Buyers guide)
December 1, 2006... When CONSUMER REPORTS recently tested 11 mail-order food gifts, our testers found a nice assortment of goods, although some of the product lineups changed considerably over two months of testing. Most arrived within the promised time frame,...

Processors & choppers: slicing through the hype.(food processors)(Buyers guide)
December 1, 2006... Plugs by Martha Stewart and Wolfgang Puck and endless infomercials have helped make food processors the fastest-growing small appliance in the kitchen. But celebrity connections weren't necessarily a food processor's meal ticket to the top of...

CR's guide to online dating sites: Romance.com.(Buyers guide)
December 1, 2006... Whether the outcome is wedding bells or dates from hell, Internet dating is big business. It raked in an estimated $551 million this year, according to JupiterResearch. And it isn't just for 20-somethings: Fifty-five percent of subscribers to...

Watch for Consumer Reports on TV.(television stations)(List)
December 1, 2006... Did you know local TV stations air reports featuring Consumer Reports testing and unbiased product Ratings? Watch newscasts in markets listed below in order to see the results of testing that's going on at Consumer Reports National Testing and...

Cordless drills: better cells raise the bar.(batteries)(Biography)
December 1, 2006... Lithium-ion and nickel-metal-hydride batteries are helping the latest cordless drills run longer and stronger for everything from hanging holiday decorations to battening down decking boards. Different cell chemistry from batteries in laptop...

Online banks where to find high rates.
December 1, 2006... There's an interest-rate war going on, and with a little detecting, you can garner the spoils. Internet-based banks, battling for a share of the market, are offering enticing interest rates--5 percent and higher--on certificates of deposit,...

Superfoods strength in numbers.(mediterranean diet)
December 1, 2006... Cashew nuts might help the body maintain normal blood pressure by making arteries better able to expand and contract, according to a report published in the June 2006 American Journal of Hypertension. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Lemonade,...

Save thousands of dollars on a new car. Negotiating is the secret.
December 1, 2006... Negotiating for a new car can strike fear into the heart of even the most rugged individuals. It's not surprising. Car dealers and manufacturers have arranged pricing in a manner designed to daze and confuse the consumer. However, simply...

The best times of the year to tackle 6 home projects.
December 1, 2006... With skilled craftsmen more in demand than ever, it's easy to assume that the best time to work on large-scale home projects is simply whenever a good contractor is available. But the pros know that some jobs go more smoothly--and cost less--if...

Furnace frauds.(furnaces)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... A contractor offers you a free or discounted inspection. He pokes around your furnace and says that it's leaking carbon monoxide and must be replaced immediately before the gas kills you. He then swaps your perfectly good unit with one taken...

Budget cars: the Honda Fit leads a new generation of thrifty little cars.(Buyers guide)
December 1, 2006... Cars such as the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla began as small and frugal vehicles. But with subsequent redesigns, their dimensions and prices grew until they began to rival those of previous-generation midsized cars. [ILLUSTRATION...

Needed: a bold policy on gas consumption.
December 1, 2006... Enjoy the recent dip in gas prices, because it isn't here to stay. The roller-coaster ride we've been on at the gas pump will continue until the U.S. develops a comprehensive energy plan that includes alternatives to gasoline, energy...