you get what you pay for. (Dualit 4 Slice Toaster)

Member Name: adriang

Product:	Dualit 4 Slice Toaster
Date:	07/03/03 (2811 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: bomb-proof, accurate timer, looks

Disadvantages: cost

The primary reasons we bought one of these, was because of the looks, and because it is British. We wanted a chrome, retro look toaster that could do 4 pieces of bread at the same time.

There are some other alternatives that would meet these requirements, but the Dualit looks funky, and from reading some reviews about Dualit toasters in general, they seem to be bomb-proof, with the only complaint is the price. Dualit actually guarantee the cooking internals for unlimited usage, for the first year, as their target market is actually commercial use, this gave me confidence.

I bought mine online from www.chromekitchen.co.uk. . They price was one of the best, but they were the only company who bothered to answer emails, and they were very helpful. I paid 136.99, and also paid 12 pounds each for 2 toasted sandwich cages. I would recommend buying from this company.

The toaster does what it is supposed to do, it toasts bread!

It has a switch for either 2 or 4 slices, and it has a timer that is not connected to the manual pop-up mechanism. This is good, because what this means is that when the toaster is finished, the heating elements are switched off, but the toast stays inside the toaster until you remove it, so the toast stays warm.

There is manual lever that is pushed down to pop-up/raise the toast from within the toaster. This is such a simple mechanism that it is brilliant.

The slots are quite wide, which is good because I like thick sliced bread, and I like think sliced toast. My girlfriend likes bagels, and crumpets, which also fit inside perfectly. We also use the toasted sandwich cages, and these fit in the slots with thinner (normal!) thickness bread.

There is a removable try to take out the breadcrumbs.

One thing that irritates me about toasters is that the timers can be inaccurate, especially with ?mass production? of toast, where the first batch is fine, but the next become dark
er and darker. I am pleased to say that the Dualit does not suffer from this problem.

There were some items that were not really clear to me from the Dualit Website, so I did have to call them a couple of times to ask some questions. I have to say that the people there were really helpful.

But in case anybody reading this review has the same questions..

Colours.. They are available in several different colours (only the ends), including silver, and they are also available in a totally chrome finish. Look in the Argos catalogue or on their web site, the show the silver coloured one, NOT the chrome one. So if you are shopping about online, make sure you are looking at the right price for the right model.

I found the term ?Original Polished? and ?Chrome? can refer to the same thing. But ?Silver? generally means the silver coloured version.

Combo vs. Vario.

Dualit has 2 variations on their entire toaster range, the Combo, and the Vario (sometimes referred to as the ?general? toaster). The combo is a dual toaster and toasted sandwich maker, with the combo slots in the toaster being for the toasted sandwiches. These slots do not have the pop-up action to remove the finished toasted sandwich.

You get a toasted sandwich cage, which is a kind of a frame with a handle on it, that you put your sandwich in, put the whole thing in the toaster, in the combo slot, and turn it on. When it is done, the timer will turn it off, and you retrieve it by pulling out the entire frame. With a combo, you cannot use the combo slot(s) to make just toast unless you either make it in the toasted sandwich cage, or you extract the finished toast with some tongs or something similar.

The combo slots are wider than the toast making slots.

The Vario does not have the toasted sandwich only slot(s). All of the slots have the pop-up action. It is still possible to buy the toasted sandwich cages, separately, b
ut because the toast only slots are a touch thinner, that means that you have to use thinner sliced bread.

This review is very positive about the Dualit toaster. This is because I am very positive about it. It was very expensive for a toaster, but it was what we wanted, and I am sure that it will still be functional for many years to come.

Summary: