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Customer Reviews:
Deceptive Marketing by Navigon ZAGAT subscription

1.0 out of 5 stars CUSTOMERS AWARE - FreshMaps deceptive Marketing, April 16, 2009

By Baivab Mitra (Jersey City, NJ) - See all my reviews

(REAL NAME)

I love my 2100 Navigon. (Read my review on the same). I loved it so much when it got destroyed I went and bought a 2nd. Navigon. You may buy a 2nd. navigon due to various reasons - like my case, just for upgrading to newer model, vandalism (more & more happening now), etc. So here I am, with just 2 downloads from possible 12 and I try to register my FreshMaps subscription service — REPEAT NAVIGON SAYS IT’S A SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE for my new Navigon - 2200T. Nada,zilch, zero, null. Customer service: NO, YOU NEED TO BUY NOW A NEW SUBSCRIPTION, NEW FRESH MAPS, etc. etc. I tell them - where it’s written in their terms & conditions - it’s not transferable. No Sir - not written, it’s ASSUMED. It’s our Company policy, etc. That’s PURE VANILLA DECEPTIVE MARKETING and also absolutely foolish strategy. Why? I returned back my 2200T, went to [..] ; bought myself a nice USED 2100 and I continue to happily and merrily use my FreshMaps subscription!! So, ALL YOU GOOD FOLKS - remember - if you buy this you’re locking yourself into Navigon’s product for the lifetime of the subscription. This includes TRAFFIC, ZAGAT, everything. I just thought all should be made aware of this limitation.

A nice addition for your navigon gps, amazon over charges
Overall, this is a good, inexpensive addition for your navigon gps unit. It’s basically the paper zagat restaurant guide along with reviews of other attractions (hotels, golf courses, etc). I paid 16.99 for this directly from navigon (19.99 with 25% off code), so I’m not sure why amazon is charging so much.

Pros:

-Detailed restaurant reviews and information like hours/phone numbers

-Convenient restaurant categories such as best food, best service, etc.

-Additional reviews of other attractions

-Relatively inexpensive at $16.99

-Updated regularly (yearly i think)

Cons:

-POI search is hard to navigate through (inherent to navigon devices)

-Arrows don’t allow you to scroll through a review, only page up/down

-Great coverage in big metropolitan areas, limited coverage elsewhere (think of which cities they actually make the zagat guide for)

-Navigon charged me $1 shipping even though nothing was actually shipped. They just e-mailed me the activation codes for the service.

$19.99 on Navigon’s website
Navigon has an MSRP of $19.99 and is selling it direct from their website. Not sure where amazon gets the $39.99 MSRP.

Owner/sucker
I purchased it on 7/22, got it on, it never worked, I returned for repairs on 7/28, they recieved it on 8/1. They finally got it to the repair department on 8/6. I called on the 8/8 and they said that it should be shipped back to me on 8/11 and i should have it by the 15th at the latest. Well the 15th cama and went. I called again on 8/22 and now they are supposed to ship a replacement on 8/25… We will see…. Not too happy.

Easy to Activate but Map is not available yet.
I bought the Navigon 5100 and then purchased a model 2100 for my daughter. I activated the Map service for my daughter and plan to update her GPS when the next Map is available. Navigon was good by Including a free complimentary map update with the updated software for both my Navigons, so their maps have March 2008 dates on them. The price for map updates is very affordable compared to others. I live in Dallas so their Lifetime Traffic service has really been a help to myself and my daughter. I will be adding this Map service to my own model 5100. They do recommend to install a download manager. I have a good DSL connection but trying to download the update without the download manager is very slow. The download manager uses bit torrent and this makes the download much faster so it is a very good ideal to go ahead and install the download manager first using the link from their website. It would be nice if a person could order this update on DVD when you don’t have a broadband connection. Using dial-up would be insane as it is around 1500 megabytes in size to download.

Customer Reviews:
Handy Spatula
It is NOT worn out after several uses, good & steady to even stir fry. Handle is a bit too long for me but no problem. You can’t go wrong with most Cuisinart’s products.

heavy handle
Although this is a great spatula to add to the kitchen, I don’t think this is the be-all/end-all only spatula you will ever need. The handle is very long and very heavy. Although this is not a bad thing when stirring something in a pot where length away from a hot liquid may be needed, it somehow seems a bit awkward when trying to scrape out a jar of mayonnaise. I compared the spatula part to a ‘Chefmate’ I bought at Target(which I love). When I bent the two back, the Chefmate was a bit more sturdy. Although the flexibility may be a plus when trying to scrape into a corner, thinking in terms of long-term use, I question whether or not this might crack over time where the spatula flexes. It is listed as a ’spoon’ spatula. The spoon part is rather flat, and as you can see in the picture, the end is more of a square; again a bit awkward in trying to scrape something from the sides. I do love the fact that attached to the handle, the 5 year warranty is there. I saved this along with the Amazon receipt and put it in a ziplock bag and into the kitchen drawer. for 2 bucks, they will replace the spatula if it breaks within 5 years. An added plus is the fact that it is heat resistant making it a great tool to use to stir a pot of hot liquid and prevent sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Customer Reviews:
Zojirushi Rice Cooker
We absolutely love our new Zojirushi rice cooker. Our old one was a 5 cup, now we have a 10 cup.

Still using mine and it’s been 11 years!!!
11 years…I kid you not.

My older sister got this for my mother as a gift one Christmas back in 96′, and we’ve had it ever since. We must’ve moved 3 times and we still have it.

We use it EVERY single day (it’s an Asian thing) and it works every single time.

Perfect rice every time.

Zojirushi makes fantastic kitchen appliances…I also have their bread machine which I got just last year. Hopefully that’ll last me 11+ years as well!

Perfect rice every time!
This cooker is worth every penny. Has been making perfect, effortless rice every time in no time at all. This is a must have for busy parents. Love it!

Don’t buy a digital rice cooker, Buy this one.
Cooks rice fast–twice as fast as the digital cookers!

I had the older model Zojirushi 10-cup–I thought it was perfect. Nope, this one is better. They have made this one easier to clean (wider water trough, wider drip recepticle so you can fit a finger in now). Also you can cook only 2 cups of rice if you want (the old one said minimum was 3 cups).

just like a good Thai restaurant
This cooker made the best rice. I love to cook and this was just great and looks great sitting on my counter as I use it often. I would definately buy this again.

Joy

Customer Reviews:
good basic microwave
I bought this microwave to replace my previous Sharp R-1449. This one is deeper, more plastic, and slightly more powerful. It seems reliable (only have had it 6 weeks), has a good vent and good stove lights. I wish it had a night light and a switch to stop turntable rotation though one can get around it by removing the turntable. My biggest disappointment was that it utilizes a different mounting plate than my previous Sharp microwave.

I gave it four stars b/c it does the job and it was inexpensive compared to other manufacturers. Incidentally, mounting instructions were very good.

great!
great microwave at great price. i bought one from amazon.com last month for $199. it arrived in one week. no shipping charge. looks great. works great. installed easily. (professionally installed for $65.) nice clean lines. easy to operate. hit the button once for one minute. hit it again for each additional minute.

$150 of Repairs in 5 Years
We’ve had an earlier model range hood style Sharp oven for five years. We’ve had to replace the circuit board and it has gone through three door handles. There is no one in our household who misuses appliances, so the door handle problem—plastic that is not strong enough to withstand the pulling pressure of the door catch— simply shows the inferior quality of Sharp parts. I’ve actually hoped that the oven itself would stop working so I’d have a legitimate reason to replace it; I can’t bear the idea of throwing out a functioning appliance. This is why I give it 2 stars. But this machine will have cost me $150 in repairs if I replace the broken handle again.

A good product for a good price
The install was easy for one person, it would have been easier for two people, but if you are handy and able to put other things together, this should be no problem.

The light under the microwave is a great plus, we use it as much as the microwave when we are cooking on the stove.

The only issue we have with this is the fan. It happens to be pretty loud. We are not sure if this has to do with the fact that we have it on re-circulation mode as opposed to external exhuast, but that is the one thing we would change.

Other than that we are very happy with it!

We use the defrost option almost every night for meat and it is great-

Also pluses for two different popcorn options depending on the size you are cooking!

Decent For The Money
I just finished installing and using this and it’s a decent microwave for the money. It’s construction is pretty flimsy though, (very thin metal), and mine came pre-dented right out of the box with a minor dent in the left side with some minor scratches.

The touch pad was also very loose and I had to use a thin washer behind it as a wedge to tighten it up.

Like I said, it’s decent for the price and Amazon’s free shipping made it an even better deal.

I hope it lasts longer than the last two Sear’s “Galaxy” models that I bought. The first one went south in the first three weeks and the replacement didn’t even last two years.