Dualit 25371 Lite 2-Slice Toaster, Red

Comment: It's hard to imagine a simpler appliance than a toaster. But if you look at the Amazon reviews, you'll see a lot of dissatisfaction. The Bella two-slice toaster (also $80) I bought had two malfunctions out of the box. The Dualit has been working fine for a week. Does bagels well, browns bread evenly. Not much to ask for, but not so easy to find. I wish it has a one-slice mode to save a little power.

Comment: The title says it all. One side cooks faster than the other.
I have to flip the bread or bagel slices over to even out the
toasting.

Comment: Finally a decent toaster. Predictable. Browns like its supposed to. No surprises.
After battles about spending "that much money" on a toaster that "i could buy at target for $15"...I held my ground...said I had to have one that would work, and work well. No more burned toast, or pushing the lever down 5 times to get it to cook. My mornings would be happy again..if only i had a good toaster to wake up to.

I put my reputation on the line..and the toaster delivered..(whew!). Can't imagine how much grief I would have gotten if it didn't work well "you spent that much on a toaster that doesn't even work!" Fortunately, no grief..just a decent toaster doing what it should do!

Comment: I bought this toaster (in red) in December of 2004. I have had it now for 5 years. I have come to realize that a toasters 'toasting evenness' relies greatly on the working order of the heating coils from day one. Every single coil does not always work on most toasters. Mine were never perfect (I can see some coils not glowing inside)though the coils that are not glowing do not appear to greatly effect the final toast evenness on my toaster (thank goodness, it did cost me $90!). That said, I have also noticed that none of the working coils seem to have died after 5 years of use. That's good. I have noticed that if I go for very light toasting it shows more, but the lighter parts seem to be only on the inside of the slices. If I flip it over & do it for a hand full of extra seconds, I can counter act the unevenness at the very light setting (barely toasted). Since I never toast that lightly, it has not effected me at all. I do like my toast completely browned, but on the lighter side. No dark toast for us. I have to set my toaster to 2 and 1/2. The dial goes to 8, which seems odd to me. Maybe for frozen stuff? If I am toasting something thicker and more uneven surfaced (English muffin) I often flip it over when it pops and toast it a little longer, then pop the release up when I think it's done. It always seems to work. Since I toast 90 % of everything at the current setting, why bother changing it. I love the color and feel of it and it cleans up easy. It has toasted the same way for 5 years. The only 3 bad points I have to mention are the fact that the rubbery red end surface has developed a crack in it. The crack showed up some time last year. It isn't noticeable unless you are standing there waiting for your toast and staring at it (ha), so I ignore the crack as it works the same as always. The second thing that bothers me about this toaster is, it doesn't catch crumbs that good as I am always wiping up around it when I am done toasting. I suspect that is because it ejects with such force that the toast pops up in the air before settling back down in slots. I mean we are talking super eject. About once a year, a slice of toast actually flies out of the toaster and lands in the dog dish (which sits on the floor next to bakers rack (shelf) my small occasionally used appliances sits on. Since it happens so seldom, and the dog seems so thrilled to be included in our breakfast toast, I ignore that too. Like I said, one or two slices of toast a year is no big deal, especially as such a strong eject means the toaster always knows when to quit heating and we never ever get burned toast. So, it has defects which a $90 dollar toaster should not have, but it has had a reliable performance record and is still toasting strong after 5 years. I might just beat the toaster to the grave. What do you think?

Comment: I have had this toaster for well over 4 or 5 years now...its still going strong ..i probably would have bought 3 or more 15 dollar toasters by now...it works as advertised...really like that if the toast or whatever isnt done you can just push the lever down again and it will continue to toast...you dont have to wait for it to cool down....as far as toasting...it works pretty well....fact is..if bread is uneven nothing is gonna toast an uneven slice of bread evenly....thats common sense...the bagel button works nice. This feels like a well made product... looks really cool....the chrome plating is done nice...and the plastic dosent look cheap at all...i got the red one. This is the longest any toaster has lasted for us and i get the feeling that its gonna be a hard one to kill....lol.....your milage may vary...but i think its worth the price.