Choice (Chippendale, Australia) articles from August 2006

Choice (Chippendale, Australia) archives from August 2006

To lock or not to lock?(choice cuts)(safety device)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... If you've travelled to the USA over the past few years you may have had the unpleasant experience of having your luggage locks broken by US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials while checking your bags. But it's still...

Fat chance.(choice cuts)(Australian Competition and Consumer Commission vs. Slendertone Health and Beauty Pty Ltd)(misleading advertising case)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Imagine an exercise machine that turns your wobbly bits into something taut and terrific while you do nothing more strenuous than sit on the couch. Imagine no sweaty workouts at the gym or guilt over not exercising. Sounds like a dream, doesn't...

Drinks: the health hierarchy.(choice cuts)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Tea pulls rank over soft drinks for health and nutrition, reports the July/August issue of CHOICE Health Reader. A team of US researchers reviewed the medical literature and rated various beverage categories according to their relative health...

Scamster destroys dream of travelling the world.(choice cuts)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Kim, 35, dreams of travelling the world in retirement. "I'd been making huge personal contributions to my super as I believed this was the most secure and effective way of getting enough to retire early," she says. When Kim's fund didn't...

Staying informed about medicines.(Consumer Medicine Information)
August 1, 2006... The debate about how best to provide consumers with accurate and helpful information about their medications continues. Three years after the launch of Consumer Medicine Information (CMI) leaflets, research shows that only 27% of people recall...

Baby walker safety standard.(choice cuts)(Standards)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... There are plenty of compelling reasons not to use a baby walker, and CHOICE doesn't recommend them (for more on why, see right). However, if you do have one for your baby, make sure it's as safe as possible. Baby walkers must pass a...

Layback strollers.(UPDATE)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... CHOICE, May 2006 We identified a safety hazard for the IGC Buzzy Days 316-BD four-wheel layback stroller. The removable front bar can be fitted in two different positions; in one (incorrect) orientation, the gap between the front bar and...

Keeping older children safe.(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... When we think of children's safety, potential dangers for babies readily spring to mind, such as curtain and blind cords that can spell disaster for babies in nearby cots. But older children too are at risk from unsafe products. For...

Psychic power failure.(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... As part of our UK sister organisation's research into scares, the editor of Which? magazine took part, a year or so ago, in a dodgy-looking competition to see how it worked. "My address was clearly sold on, as now I'm inundated with offers of...

Shoe shopping for kids.(WORLD CONSUMER SNAPSHOT)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... You probably knew all along that you can't rely on the size alone to find a pair of shoes that fits your youngster. In Austria Konsument magazine found that only every fourth pair of kids' shoes it tested had the correct measurements for the...

No freebies.(your letters)(Letter to the editor)
August 1, 2006... My husband and I went to a restaurant in Cronulla (NSW) today for lunch. Our meal was lovely and the service was good too. But what irks me is the fact that we had two glasses of water placed on our table without requesting them. We thought it...

Costly typo.(your letters)(Letter to the editor)
August 1, 2006... I work in Queensland and three times a year I get to fly my 15-year-old son up for a visit. I recently booked with JETSTAR for the first time. When I was booking online I accidentally entered my name in the passenger details section instead of...

Pack your printout.(your letters)(Letter to the editor)
August 1, 2006... I would like to offer some advice about renting cars when travelling. We visited Canada recently and before travelling I made an online booking with a car rental company. I received an online confirmation for the booking which I printed and...

Letter of the month.(your letters)(Letter to the editor)
August 1, 2006... We want to hear from you--your experiences help our research and often let other readers know about scams and rip-offs. Positive outcomes you've had to a complaint you took to a manufacturer, retailer, importer or tradesperson interest us too....

Enjo.(THUMBS UP!)
August 1, 2006... Gaye-Maree, of Altona Meadows, Victoria, awards a 'Thumbs up' to ENJO. When the head of her mop broke, the local dealer organised free postage to return it for repair and the loan of another mop while she waited, even though it was over two...

Bedshed.(THUMBS UP!)
August 1, 2006... When BEDSHED in Townsville, Queensland, delivered Robert's new bed he realised part of the order was missing. He went to pick up the missing part and the store threw in two pillows free for the inconvenience it had caused him.

Early-release super schemes.(hip pocket)
August 1, 2006... Schemes promoting early access to superannuation money have got both consumers and the scheme promoters into hot water. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has issued warnings about unscrupulous promoters who offer...

UK consumers pay hundreds of millions in illegal card fees.(Office of Fair Trading)
August 1, 2006... Credit card default charges, such as penalties for late payment of a monthly card bill, have generally been set "at a significantly higher level than is legally fair", according to a report by the UK's Office of Fair Trading (OFT). The OFT...

A sporting chance: can eating at a sports venue be a gastronomnic gamble?(TEST: Food at sport venues)(Cover story)
August 1, 2006... Each year millions of Australians head to stadiums, tracks and racecourses to take part in the national pastime of watching sport. And whether you're there for just a few hours to watch the footy or all day for the cricket or horse racing,...

Super stitch-up: some funds for 'lost' super charge excessive fees or even pay 0% returns. We tell you the worst offenders.(REPORT: Eligible rollover funds)
August 1, 2006... Switching your super seems like a bit of a hassle, doesn't it? But if you've changed job or address and forgotten to tell your fund, you may have some 'lost' super that's been transferred, without your knowledge, into a high-cost,...

Raising the benchmark: showing the way through the choice of kitchen benchtop materials.(BUYING GUIDE: Kitchen benchtops)
August 1, 2006... The kitchen is often described as the heart of the family home. No longer, just a place for cooking and washing-up, it s become one of the key entertaining areas. With all this activity, most people want their kitchen benchtops to look...

Getting fresh: fresh fruit and veg aren't always as fresh as you might think--but there are ways to pick the best.(TEST: Fresh fruit and veg?)
August 1, 2006... We've all bought fruit that looks delicious and turns out to be tasteless or rock-hard; or green vegetables that are droopy and stale by the time you serve them for dinner. Is it because they're not as flesh as you'd expect (or at least...

LCD TVs: good news--you no longer need to pay a fortune for a good-quality LCD TV.(TEST: 81 cm LCD TVs)(Buyers guide)
August 1, 2006... Falling prices have made sleek, flat-panelled LCD TVs an affordable option for more consumers. Prices have dropped dramatically since our last test in 2005, when 66 cm LCDs cost between $1300 and $3000. Six months later we bought 81 cm LCD TVs...

Converging in the lounge room: why can't all those bits and pieces of electrical gear in the lounge room go into one box?(REPORT: Media merging)
August 1, 2006... In the world of home entertainment, convergence is a term that means the combination of many products into a single device that not only plays music and video, but also allows you to connect to the internet and perhaps even send music, video...

Flex appeal: we put bendy bakeware to the test.(TEST: Silicone bakeware)
August 1, 2006... It's shiny, rubbery and comes in a rainbow of different colours. In fact some of it looks like it would be more at home in the bathtub than the kitchen, but 'bendy' bakeware is one of the latest cooking products to hit the shelves. This...

Choosing GE-free.(food bites)(against genetically engineered ingredients)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... It seems it's getting easier to choose food in Australia that hasn't been genetically engineered, according to the new Greenpeace True Food Guide. Even the big food companies are realising that many consumers prefer GE-free food, with half of...

Big plan to combat obesity.(food bites)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Australian federal and state health ministers have announced a national action agenda to address the increasing number of Australians who are overweight or obese. The new plan complements two programs already in place, the Australian Better...

Comparing apples oranges.(food bites)(serve sizes)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... We're always told to eat at least two serves of fruit and five serves of vegies a day, but what exactly constitutes a serve? A single strawberry hardly equates to an orange as a serve of fruit. Here are some examples of serve sizes, as outlined...

Two by two: side-by-side or tandem ... does the shape of a double stroller make a difference?(TEST: Double strollers)
August 1, 2006... If you've got twins--or a baby and a toddler close in age--a two-seater stroller could be just what you need for getting everyone from A to B. Most of the tested models cost around the same as single-seat models of the same brand, and will...

How does your garden glow? Solar-powered garden lights are an easy way to mark your garden path night, but they're far from bright.(TEST: SOLAR LIGHTS)
August 1, 2006... Do you want your garden to glow at night? Mark out a winding pathway, highlight N a flower bed, or even shed some light on your shed? A few solar-powered lights could seem a simple solution. They have a solar panel on top to charge their...

Brush up your maths.(COMPUTING CHOICE: Maths software)
August 1, 2006... Some students find maths interesting and challenging; others find the concepts more difficult. That's where tutorial software comes in. These products make claims such as "play the most absorbing, amazing and mind bending maths games ever...

Simple choices speed, size, features...(UPDATE: Clothes dryers)
August 1, 2006... Even though many people mainly use their dryer in the colder and wetter months rather than all year round, more than half of Australian households have a dryer in the laundry. Clothes dryers are pretty simple machines that really have only...

Recalls & bans.
August 1, 2006... Nowadays there are so many product recalls we may not be able to print all of them in CHOICE. For comprehensive recall information go to the Product Recalls Australia website: www.recalls.gov.au. If you don't have web access, call the Product...