Introducing the Limited Edition Forza 3 Evolution Racing Seat. This evolution is outfitted with an extra strong lightweight black powder coated tubular steel frame with high-tension spring and wire system for the ultimate racing experience. The new limited edition evolution is fully upholstered in Black synthetic leather and red stitching with the official Forza Motorsport 3 branding and insignia. The licensed Forza 3 seat also includes the X-Box 360 Wireless Wheel Adapter Kit (a $29.99 retail value). Its removable base cushions and patented folding system makes it great for easy and fast storage. The seat chassis and pedal support framework also applies the extra strong lightweight powder coated steel chassis with special oval steel tubing to the pedal support plate and is adjustable for multi point tuning of the gas and brake pedal set as well as the steering wheel support. Consisting of several reinforcements and modifications not found on the Classic Playseats version this chair provides ultimate comfort with style to boot! Particulars include a reinforced steel tube frame to eliminate excess wobble also allowing for easier adjustment and a more durable synthetic leather fabric for longer wear and tear use. Fully adjustable at three points to accommodate gamers of all heights and sizes. Easily collapses and breaks down for easy storage when not in use. Recommended for ages 8+ / 300 lbs or less. X-Box 360 Wireless Wheel Adapter Kit: For use with the Evolution Playseat only. Provides solid attachment and security of your Xbox360 Wireless Wheel to the Playseat wheel platform.
- High-tech Forza Motorsport 3 Licensed Edition Chair for racing video games puts you in the middle of the excitement
- Adjustable to almost every game console/computer and steering wheel
- Just install separately available game steering wheel and pedals
- Reinforced steel tubular construction eliminates excess wobble; folds for storage
- Includes X-Box 360 Wireless Wheel Adaptor Kit (a $29.99 retail value); Measures 52.1 x 19.7 x 38.6 inches (L x H x W)
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Great BuyLove this product. I read all the other reviews before buying so I knew it didn't come with a steaming pitcher and ordered one to go with it. However I didn't realize that it didn't come with an espresso tamper either. I would have ordered one had I known now I have to wait for the one I ordered to come in and hope it fits this machine. Would have given it 5 stars but as a former barista I know that to make a good latte I need a steaming pitcher and a tamper. So for an espresso machine not to come with these items is like getting a pair of sneakers with no laces. I have had no problem with leaking and as long as the user READS THE INSTRUCTIONS they shouldn't have any problems either. For $40 I've already gotten my money's worth in the last week. And anyone interested in buying I would say "GO FOR IT!!!" but order a steaming pitcher and espresso tamper along with it.
Note: P.S. Get a 49mm espresso tamper to go with it. Doesn't fit "perfectly" but its as close as I could find that wouldn't be too big.
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Best Single Cup Brewer On The MarketI recently purchased the new Keurig B-70 Gourmet Single Cup Home Brewing System that was released on October 1st 2006 and have been very happy with it. The machine is extremely well designed simple to operate aesthetically pleasing and most importantly brews an excellent cup of coffee. I am very impressed with how quickly it is able to brew a cup of coffee the selection of brew sizes and how simple clean up is.
There are a variety of single cup brewers on the market now many utilizing pre-packaged coffee "pods" for brewing. Personally I was not comfortable purchasing a product where I would be locked into the selection and pricing of a specific manufacturer or one that would only brew coffee and not tea and cocoa. This is just one area where Keurig really shines above their competition.
Keurig has gathered support of a variety of gourmet coffee tea and cocoa manufacturers and there currently there are over 140 different types sold pre-packaged in K-Cups including Green Mountain Diedrich Gloria Jean's Timothy's Van Houtte Tully's Coffee People Newman's Own Celestial Seasonings Bigelow Twinings and Ghirardelli. Not only is there a large selection to choose from there are a variety of resellers online offering K-Cups and pricing is extremely competitive.
In addition to the pre-packaged offerings Keurig offers the My K-Cup Reusable Coffee Filter allows you to use your own gourmet ground coffee in your Keurig home brewer. This option provided the extra level of comfort I personally needed to make the jump into a single cup brewer. Frankly I don't find myself using it very often as I had originally thought as there are so many options available in pre-packaged K-cups.
The pricing of the Keurig brewers are extremely reasonable and brews gourmet coffee in just a fraction of the cost of purchasing it from a Starbucks Coffee People or similar. I expect that my machine will pay for itself in savings in just a couple months of use.
The only suggestion I have for Keurig is that the My K-Cup Reusable Coffee Filter be included with the sale of the brewer and not an optional accessory. It is such an inexpensive accessory that I am surprised it was not included. Overall the Keurig brewers are excellent value and quality and would recommend them to anyone interested in a single cup brewer.
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Capresso 303.01 4-Cup MachineFor the money this is an excellent machine for non-commericial use. My spouse is totally hooked on lattes. We usually make 2-20 ounce lattes at one time; although we have made 3 sets of 2-20 ounce lattes back to back. The Capresso is fast. The espresso is flavorful and hot. The steamer quickly heats the milk to perfection and creates as little or as much froth as you prefer.
During the last 20 years we have had 6 or 7 different espresso machines ranging from $40.00 to $180.00 in price. This one which retails for $105.00 (we paid less on Amazon)is the best. It is easy to use and creates exceptionally good coffee drinks.
A word of caution for any machine you purchase: READ the INSTRUCTIONS. The directions for each machine differ slighty. My caffeine addicted hubby overfilled the water chamber on a very expensive espresso/cappuccino machine and broke it.
The Capresso 301.01 is the machine I would recommend to friends and family. We are extremely happy with this machine.
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An excellent coffee makerBecause we're serious about our coffee we sold our old $100+ Cuisinart coffeemaker to be replaced with this much better designed and much easier to use coffee maker.
A motel room we stayed at had this model coffee maker. We used it twice a day for 10 days. The coffee was delicious and we found no minuses at all so I bought one. We've been using it daily now for about three months.
The carafe is made of heavy duty glass and doesn't drip at all. The hole to pour water into is large and easy to get to. There are convenient and accurate water level windows on both sides of the unit. The controls are convenient easy to understand and easy to use. The basket is easily removed for cleaning easy to position and uses standard flat bottomed filters. The time and function displays are large and bright. All of these are comparative problem areas in the Cuisinart.
Programming works perfectly and is so simple to use we didn't need the manual. To set the time of day press the "Hours" button until it reaches the current hour and then the "Minutes" button. To set the "Auto on" time press the "Program" button and then set the start time the same way. Press the "Program" button again to go back to time of day. For auto start press the "Auto on" button which lights up. That's it.
In addition the water enters the drip chamber in a shower rather than a stream resulting in consistently smooth and uniform tasting coffee. I can't comment on the warming plate because we put what we don't drink immediately into a Thermos for all day use. The warming plate shuts itself off after two hours if you forget.
The negative reviews are a puzzle to me. We found none of the problems mentioned.
This is an addendum in mid Nov 2007. The coffeemaker still makes perfect coffee and everything works like new. The only negative I'd add is that the warming plate is quite rusty probably because I put a pot of tap water on it at night to have chlorine free water in the morning. Often the pot is damp. When we need to replace this coffeemaker I'll paint the new warming plate with bar-b-cue paint before the first use for rust protection.
This is an update dated 11/20/07. The coffeemaker still works perfectly and still looks good. I sanded the rust off of the base plate painted it with bar-b-cue paint and as expected there is no more rust problem. I don't think the rust would occur for most people. I caused it by putting a wet pot on the plate overnight seven days a week.
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they fixed it! Great Unit!I really love it! You fill cold milk into it push the button and after about a minute you get warm and very stiff cappucino-milk foam.
The newer Aeroccino Plus is an improved version of the older Aeroccino (no plus). It works great and - honestly - there is no reason to buy the old Aeroccino anymore (i own both)!
The Plus is larger the milk doesn't burn to the floor of the kettle anymore it can now be submerged into water (but no dishwasher!) and it can also do cold milk foam which looks great and stiff (hold the switch for about 2 seconds - the light turns blue instead of red).
Finally cleaning is really easy and can be done with water sometimes a little soap and with the hands - there is no burned milk anymore (as with the old version). They also improved the coating so nothing sticks anymore.
If you love cappucinos or cafe-lattes get one!
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Didn't need but had to have! Love it!I have a perfectly good Cuisinart DCC-1200 but after spotting the 2000 at a local store I couldn't stop fiddling with the floor model. Well my wife was lurking as I was fiddling and with my birthday coming up - and my affinity for coffee - she thought she'd found the perfect gift. Boy was she was right!
Now let's be honest carafe-less designs have been around forever - Farberware's stainless steel coffee pots are staples in offices and at parties - they just haven't been this much fun. I'm not going to repeat everything that's already been written but suffice to say the 2000 is a unique coffee maker. Does it make coffee better than my 1200 did? No not really. But it does keep it hot longer without the bitter burnt taste that would often accompany the coffee from my 1200 when left on the warming plate for over 30 minutes. I normally have two cups every morning (not the puny 5-ounce "cups" that every coffee maker seems to think is the norm for whatever reason) but I've found myself having about three (maybe not a good thing?) since getting the 2000 because that third cup about 1-1/2 hours later still tastes great. That wasn't happening with the 1200. Sometimes I'd try the third cup but the burnt carafe taste made it unfortunate.
One of the complaints I'm reading here is that you need a separate container to fill the 2000. I can't be the only owner that owns a Pyrex 2-cup (or more) measuring cup can I? I just fill it up once twice - gasp! - three times and pour it in while watching the water level on the side. Honestly it's not that hard. Cleaning is no different from any model with a carafe. But instead of washing the outer carafe you remove the inner "carafe" to rinse it out or give it a thorough cleaning. That's the only difference. The coffee gauge is kind of silly and inaccurate and I rarely ever look at it but it adds to the allure of the 2000.
I'll be keeping my 1200 at the ready for my sister to use when she comes over to make her dreadful flavored coffees so they don't contaminate my new toy. But until the next great design advance comes along to which I can't say "no" I'll be enjoying the 2000 to the fullest. It's neat it's fun and it makes great coffee.
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Follow these tips for a unique coffeeEvery family in Italy owns one of these machines. Here are a few tips:
1. In Italy this is NOT called an espresso machine but a Moka machine. An espresso is what you would drink in bar made with a steam or high pressure machine with the crema on top.
2. Smaller size Moka machine tend to make better coffee.
3. Never wash the Moka with detergents just rinse it under tap water
4. You've gotta use it often for a good coffee.
5. If you haven't use it in a while make a weak coffee ("lungo") and discard
6. DO NOT put the MOka in the dishwasher.
7. Use drinking water. Avoid tap water especially if very chlorinated
8. Never compress the coffee.
9. For a strong coffee fill the filter with ground coffee and make a small cupola that slightly protrudes beyond the rim. Do not press down.
10. For best coffee heat at very low heat. It's ok if it takes 10min.
11. As soon as coffee reaches the top remove from heat
12. Do not let the coffee boil
13. Use good quality coffee not too strong medium grind (try Illy for a good commercial brand)
14. Sip while still hot enjoy!
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In defense of the Grind & BrewYe gads. I forgot all about the fierce partisanship amongst purchasers that this wee little machine invokes. Last year I dutifully combed through all of the reviews and was almost pursuaded to look to another machine. Thank the stars I was not. Like many I was won over by the lure of (1)the thermal carafe (2) the auto grind&brew feature and (3) the shininess. I also trusted the Cuisinart name and had been previously pleased with the Brew Central. I noted however that many writers were highly displeased with (4) the noise and (5) the mess. So after a year here are my experiences:
(1) The thermal carafe rocks out loud. Yes pre-heating the carafe seems to keep the coffee hotter for longer but on the crazy work-mornings that I use the auto-grind&brew function I do not pre-heat and find no need to as I am out of the house at light speed. Note that the coffee is still scaldingly hot. People seem irritated/perplexed at the slowness with which coffee is dispensed from the carafe as well as the steep pouring angles necessitated by the carafe. I am not at all disturbed by either; however a relative in need of immediate coffee discovered that one can get faster pouring by just removing the lid. Which defeats the awesome vacuum-packed thermal hotness but seems a likely remedy for those with a fundamental aversion to slow pours. As far as weird geometry issues I have nothing to offer.
(2) The auto grind&brew is very convenient. It has always worked flawlessly for me and really amazes and pleases guests who may rise before residents.
(3) It is damn shiny.
(NB: I have a lot of stainless in the kitchen and through trial and error have found that the Method stainless steel cleaner keeps it all damn shiny and keeps me from going stark raving from the constant buffing and rubbing).
(4) The noise? Really not that unusual for a coffee bean grinder. I did not notice that it was any louder than other grinders. If the "grind" portion of the auto grind&brew is waking one too early I would imagine that one could either pregrind or use ground beans and just skip the "grind" function. While it is intriguing to imaging a space age machine with stealth grind mode I would urge potential buyers to neither expect silence nor let lack of silence keep you from buying this machine.
(5) The ire over the mess was what nearly kept me from purchasing this maker. And I completely forgot about the issue until just now when I re-read some of the reviews. I guess that I don't understand what "mess" they mean. There are seven parts to this thing that I clean: carafe/lid filter/basket/lid and grinder base/lid. I rinse the carafe and filter with hot water and clean the rest with hot soapy water. It all takes approximately 2.5 minutes. I never have to clean the rest of the machine. I usually tilt the top-loader lid open to let condensation out after brewing is done. I occasionally wipe the inside of the machine down with a damp cloth. I have replaced the water filter a couple of times. But altogether clean-up is not that big of a deal. Maybe others are not getting a tight enough seal on the the grinder parts?
SUMMARY: I have had this machine for over a year and have never had a single problem with it. It makes delicious hot coffee. I was almost deterred by the problems that others have had with it but am glad that I opted to take my chances. I gave it four rather than five stars because so many people have had problems with it. Even though I have not experienced these problems the negative feedback must nonetheless be taken into consideration.
cheers!
~currer bell
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Coffee lovers dream tool !! Awesome ! I must admit when I first heard of these immersion frothers I was very skeptical. I had tried many frothers cappuccino machines with built in frothers (work great first 2 times then they always clog) and plunger frothers (can you say carpal tunnel syndrome??) etc. After much time AND much effort there was very little reward almost no froth and much frustration not to mention cleanup. I tried the plunger types repeatedly to the point where I was sure I'd have blisters. Did I mention having to disassemble & clean all the frother parts after? :o)
So began my quest for an easy effective way to obtain cappuccino style froth for my morning java. I searched java junkie message boards and decided to give the Aerolatte a try. I couldn't have been more amazed and pleased.
This little gadget runs on 2 AA batteries (included) and comes with a metal counter stand so it's easily accessible. I unboxed it and gave it a whirl seemed sturdy and surprisingly fast. Now for the coffee test. Hmmm. So I brewed a pot (french press) of strong coffee and poured a little half & half in my mug and let 'er rip. All I can say is AWESOME!! I was totally shocked at how quick and easy the Aerolatte whipped it into froth. Seriously comparable to the froth from Starbucks. I couldn't believe it.
The instructions recommend skim or low fat milk which also frothed up just as thick and rich. Wow!!!! When you are finished run the unit under under the faucet or in a cup of water to clean. Incredibly cool that you create the froth right in your coffee mug. Simple as that no extra equipment to clean.
Be brave experiment a little. I prefer heating my mug with sugar & half & half in the microwave for 30 seconds froth for about 30 seconds & pour in coffee. Voila Coffee house quality cappuccino and no pots or tubes to clean. Pretty spectacular!
Details: Gotta admit the stand that arrived with mine is cool to look at very high-tech but poorly designed & a tad annoying as you need 2 hands to remove the frother or put it back in. Ok but not ideal. Luckily Aerolatte must have realized this as they have since redesigned the stand & replaced with an even cooler (hopefully more functional) design.
The battery life is excellent (at least 4 weeks of daily use) however I would recommend investing in rechargeable batteries and charger as the unit is much more efficient and faster with strong batteries.
My first Aerolatte burned out after a little over a year of heavy usage. I loved it so much I purchased another. The price is reasonable as my unit was packaged with the unit stand and matching shaker for toppings (cinnamon cocoa etc)
Highly recommended. You will not be disappointed! Bravo Aerolatte
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Sure beats the other brandsI thought my Hamilton Beach percolator was decent for the price I even wrote a review about it in December 2006. One week later this 1-year old coffee maker was barely keeping the coffee hot. Then I visited my son in Alaska at Christmas and noticed that his 6-yr old Presto percolator was still delivering great hot coffee in record time. I returned home ordered my Presto 12-cup percolator and am highly impressed. It's lighter easier to load easier to pour easier to clean perks ultra-fast and makes a great hot cup of coffee. Because of its lighter stainless steel pot it cools down faster if you want to make a second batch of coffee right away. (We make two pots and pour the first batch into a thermos for back-up when company comes) Based on its performance I'm surprised the price is so reasonable.
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This works so well it's INSANE (see my photos)I just got the box from Amazon pulled out my new Aerolatte removed the protective cover from the battery compartment (yeah it even comes pre-loaded with a pair of "aerolatte" double A's!) and put about 2 oz of NON-FAT (skim) milk in a glass.
I nuked the milk for about 20 seconds pulled it from the microwave stuck the aerolatte in the glass and pushed the switch.
DANG!!
Nearly INSTANT foam. GOBS of it. It formed PEAKS!! You could make small milk-animals out of it.
I really can't believe how well this thing works. The only thing that would ruin it for me is if it simply fell apart after a few uses but frankly with a little bit of care it looks like it'll hold up. We'll see.
But in the meantime call me Doctor Foam.
-Jonathan Sabin
UPDATE ***9 MONTHS LATER***
Notwithstanding the complaints of people who claim that their aerolatte lasted about 5 minutes I just replaced the batteries for the first time since buying it back in January. (Yes it still works but I was disappointed that I was no longer able to make foam-animals!)
Well a couple of fresh Duracells later and I sound like a deranged dentist with this thing in my hand. The "buzz" I had become accustomed to is now a high-pitched whizzing sound that actually made my molars uncomfortable.
But I'm back to making some seriously decent foam again!
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Best value for the money - Awesome coffeeI was initially reluctant to buy this based on the fact that they use proprietary pods. Had that reluctance stuck with me I probably would've spent a few hundred more on a high-quality manual espresso machine or over a thousand on an automatic machine. $.52 a cup is reasonable when you consider that grinding your own works out to about $.30 a cup but yields a greater mess and requires more soap and water for cleanup each time. With two little kids at home - who has time to clean? I was absolutely giddy the first time I used both the machine and the frother. Separately and together both machines match or rival what all too many of us pay $3-5 for from the local coffee shop. I'm convinced that our friends will like us more if we decide to share some of this with them. I bought this at Williams-Sonoma based on loyalty as I had sampled it 3 times over a two week period and finally couldn't take it anymore. I had to have one! Consumer reports also ranks this machine highest in its class. The only machine that offered comparable taste was larger cost about a grand and requires more cleaning.
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Perfect for families with 1 coffee drinkerWe all know that too much coffee is terrible for the body in several ways. So instead of using the 12-cup coffee maker we decided to go with a smaller one - to force me to drink less coffee. I love this product for a number of reasons.
Pros:
- Perfect size for a single coffee drinker.
- Timer is great. Every other 4-cup maker that I found were switch based without a timer setting. Timer settings are really helpful when you want to just get your coffee and go.
- Easy to clean. This product has a removeable filter cup for easy cleaning. Also the auto-pause in brewing is helpful to both allow for quick removal and less spilling.
Cons:
- It takes a little longer to brew 4 cups with this maker as it does in a larger maker. This may simply be due to the size of the product.
Summary:
- I really like this product. It makes coffee perfectly. It is compact and takes up very little space. It is perfect for my coffee needs.
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Perfect for families with 1 coffee drinkerWe all know that too much coffee is terrible for the body in several ways. So instead of using the 12-cup coffee maker we decided to go with a smaller one - to force me to drink less coffee. I love this product for a number of reasons.
Pros:
- Perfect size for a single coffee drinker.
- Timer is great. Every other 4-cup maker that I found were switch based without a timer setting. Timer settings are really helpful when you want to just get your coffee and go.
- Easy to clean. This product has a removeable filter cup for easy cleaning. Also the auto-pause in brewing is helpful to both allow for quick removal and less spilling.
Cons:
- It takes a little longer to brew 4 cups with this maker as it does in a larger maker. This may simply be due to the size of the product.
Summary:
- I really like this product. It makes coffee perfectly. It is compact and takes up very little space. It is perfect for my coffee needs.
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Zojirushi's EC-BD15BA 1.5 Liter Fresh Brew Coffee Maker with Vacuum Stainless Steel Carafe is gorgeous and functional and will look spectacular on your countertop. It has many wonderful features.
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This state of the art coffeemaker lets you fine tune the process from filtering the water you brew with to keeping the brewed coffee at the precise temperature you desire. If you're the impatient type you can grab a cup before brewing is complete (or program your coffee to be ready and waiting at wake up time) and if you tend to be forgetful this appliance has auto shut off. Seems as though Cuisinart has covered all the bases in this deluxe coffeemaker.
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Wouldn't this make a great gift for a student or a commuter? The machine brews right into the thermal travel mug and then shuts itself off so your favorite coffee lover can simply grab and go!
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