To Toast Or Not To Toast. (Argos Value Range 4 Slice Toaster)

Member Name: boredindunoon

Product:	Argos Value Range 4 Slice Toaster
Date:	24/05/09 (99 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy To Clean, Reasonably Fast, Decent Design & Build Quality, Cord Wrap. Even Toasting.

Disadvantages: No Removable Crumb Tray, A Tight Fit For Four Slices Of Bread.

After around eight years of usage, my existing toaster said "no more" and gave up the ghost (or should that be toast). I found myself in the market for a replacement, and being an fan of Argos I decided to go for their value range four slice Toaster, which comes in at the very cheap price of just over six pounds.

While there are more expensive models of toasters on the market (some into triple figure sums), I felt that since they all essentially do the same thing, and taking into account the fact that I'm not a big a toast eater as what I used to be, I decided that the cheapest one they had would do me fine. And after using the item for a few weeks now, I still overall happy with the choice I made.

In terms of ease of use, I personally encountered no problems. The dial is large, and easy to turn with clearly printer numbers representing the heat setting. The pull down slider is again easy to use and simply clicks down into place. This also means that this toaster would probably be suitable for those with arthritis, or eye site problems (whereas other toasters may have small awkward dials and lots of buttons).

The actual design of the toaster was better than I first expected. It looks more expensive than it actually is, and would be happy sitting on any work-surface. The surfaces of the toaster remain cool during operation so there is little risk of injury. These same surfaces are also very easy to wipe clean, and thanks to the smooth construction and contours of the toaster there are no places for crumbs and dirt to hide. Sadly there is no removable crumb tray (sometimes located in the bottom of the toaster), which is an unfortunate omission, as it could have make cleaning even easier. Though personally I've always preferred simply tipping the toaster upside down over a bin and shaking.

The toaster is reasonably fast in operation (I won't quote times as everyone has a different idea of when toast is ready) but in the majority of times the toast is evenly cooked (the odd time when it doesn't tends to be when I've used a really thick outsider.)

While it does claim to be a four slice toaster, in reality you will struggle to get four slices of bread in at one time. This doesn't present a problem for me (I'm a two slice kind of guy), but if you often need more than two at one time, for example if this was to be used as a family toaster, then I would not recommend it. While I did eventually manage to squeeze in four slices of bread, two slices came out burnt along the edges as they must have been touching the element.

I should point out that I did have to turn the toaster to it's highest heat setting in order to get me toast the way I like it. If you prefer your toast very well done, then you will may have to put it through the toaster twice to achieve your desired result.

The cord is nearly three feat in length, and if this is too long for you, a nice feature of this toaster is that it has a cord wrap located underneath allowing for safe storage of any excess cable.

It also has a cancel button while allows you to 'take control' of when things pop-up. This is especially useful if you toast other items of food such as waffles, which take longer.

At the end of the day, it does what it's designed to do. While I wasn't looking for much, this toaster has met my requirements. It would only be unsuitable as a family toaster because of the burning issue when using four slices.

Considering the low cost I'm perfectly happy to recommend this to you for a basic no thrills toasting solution.

For your reference I've included the Argos catalogue number below to make finding this item easier in the event that you want to buy it.

421/9581

Summary: Thanks For Reading.

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