As Seen on TV

[VanReal]

Maybe I watch too much tv because I often catch sight of a lot of infomercials that interest me, I have even bought several items from them, usually in my manic phase.  The other day on the radio they were having people call in an tell the worst product they'd purchased for the kitchen that they'd seen on tv.  I thought it may be neat to expand that a bit.  

Has anyone made a purchase from tv that they like or dislike?

I have two:

The PedEgg

It does not defy gravity as stated in the commerical, so if you use it you need something on the floor because believe me, everything doesn't stay in the little "cup" on the bottom.  It does work though.  The purchasing online really stunk, you make the purchase and then go through about 10 screens of special offers that you can take, it's hard to just purchase the PedEgg.  The shipping is also inflated, you pay $10 for the PedEgg and double that for the shipping and it's small and light, kind of a ripoff or maybe they have a deal with the USPS:)

The Magic Bullet

Actually this is pretty neat if you have a little storage space.  I use it fairly often, although the juicer stinks (as most do). My sons uses all of the time for his protein drinks.  I love the colored rings, if I had parties that would come in handy.  I bought this during the "buy one get one free" event and it was smooth and easy to do online.  I sent one to my sister, she uses it as a blender.  Pretty good buy.

[Harbinger]

I actually have purchased both of those. the The PedEgg We bought from the "As Seen On TV" section of our local Pharmacy and The Magic Bullet was bought via the infomercial. We lost the PedEgg after just a few days, it's simply vanished. The Magic Bullet however we were able to use for a full two weeks before it broke. I'm going to have to say my whole AS Seen On TV experience was a bad one.

[Hitsumei]

I don't watch television, but I can recount a couple purchases I made on the intertubes.

I bought a book composed of amateur short stories recently, and I could only manage to get through have of them. I know why they are still amateurs.

I also bought some hiragana character stickers for my keyboard, but it turned out that the keyboard layout that vista uses isn't the same as the layout the stickers came in, so now I have useless hiragana stickers on my keyboard.

[Whitney]

I tend not to buy any as seen on tv stuff till it starts being sold in stores and I know someone who has used it.  I had quite a few George Forman grills and that started as seen on tv only.  Now I have a real grill, so the Forman was just something else to take up space...plus I found it hard to keep clean. I am thinking of getting that new Foreman deep fryer (saw it at Target) that somehow makes the food absorb less fat when frying...I was going to wait for the price to go down and if other people liked it.  It would be great to be able to make less fattening french fries and things like that.

[Chimera]

I bought a PedEgg at Walgreen's awhile back and I'm quite pleased with it. I also used to get ProActiv and I really liked that too, but I couldn't afford $45 a month so I had to give it up.

[Whitney]

I just looked at the george foreman deep fryer online  http://www.georgeforemancooking.com/pro ... oductId=45  apparnetly it just spins the extra frying fat off the food.  I don't see how this could be much different then blottting them with a paper towl...or maybe stickinig the food in one of those salad spinners.  It's also still over 100 dollars, i'd get one if it were almost as cheap as a frydaddy (which I also don't have because as often as I fry something it makes more sense to use a deep pan) just because it would be easier to have the appliance remove excess fat than me blotting it with a paper towel.

[Will]

I thought the "magic bullet" was a nickname given to a set of facts that demonstrate that Lee Harvey Oswald couldn't have shot JFK.

I bought my grandmother a device that opens cans with the push of a button. The thing was perfect considering her arthritis, until it ran out of batteries with half a can of chicken broth still in it. Then it became a nightmare. The machine locks up when it runs out of batteries and the battery holding apparatus can't be accessed when the machine is in mid-can opening. I had to get pliers and metal cutters and go to town on the can. I've never seen so many shards of twisted aluminum in my life. I finally got the can out, replaced the batteries and explained to my grandmother to not use the machine if it starts slowing down. It locked up again a few days later.

[VanReal]

Chimera when you had the proactiv were you diligent in using it day and night and all three parts?  I bought that for my son a few years ago and it really wasn't effective at all.  He wasn't that bad either just a little bit of a forehead issue and the occassional teenage hormone break-outs.  I thought that was kind of a bummer.

Will that is too funny about the can-opener!  I am sure your gramma was like "what in the world did he get this for"?  I got my gramma a steamer and although she likes it she says she has trouble with it, and she does pretty good with her juicer but it ends up being a mess.  We've asked her not to cook on the stove (she's 94 and forgets she put things on the stove top and wanders off to do other things) so are always trying to find handy things for her.  I guess I can cross the autmatic can opener off the list!

I'd checked out the Forman grills before also Whitney but they never looked like they really had much of a capacity and I really questioned the clean-up.  I had seen the fryer a few weeks ago and was skeptical that anything we were going to deep fry was going to be somehow more healthy.  That's a big disappointment seeing as it means I have to come to the realization that at 35 my yummy deep fried goodies are a thing of the past.

I am happy I'm not the only one that feel for the PedEgg and guess you'd get a better value in the store because from tv or their website you definitely paid for inflated shipping.  I haven't seen anything lately that has caught my ettention to the point of buying.  I'm on Spring Break from work now though so I may peep something fun!

[curiosityandthecat]

My fiance (being from Taiwan) never ceases to be amazed by the things people hawk on television. Now, I love my George Foreman grill as much as anybody who used to live in a dorm (ssh, don't tell them... I had candles, too!), I'll admit that. We purchased a set of brushes made for cleaning inside dryers and exhaust hoses and whatnot. Those are great. Aside from those, we don't have anything. I have somehow managed to rein her in every time she wants to purchase Billy Mays' latest miracle invention.  

I do want some ShamWows, though.

[VanReal]

Oh the ShamWows are impressive!  I have a friend that bought some though and they didn't hold up.  I was so disappointed because after all they are made in Germany    I heard that the inventor of the Snuggie has made millions on that little beauty, I believe he was on Oprah....and to think I made fun of them for making folks look like colorful monks and for them being to lazy to pull their arm from underneath a blanket.  Who knew?

[curiosityandthecat]

Oh the ShamWows are impressive!  I have a friend that bought some though and they didn't hold up.  I was so disappointed because after all they are made in Germany  :brick:

[SteveS]

You know, I can honestly say I've never bought any of these TV things.  I remember growing up, though, when my mom got into a home shopping network phase ........ it was painful.

[MariaEvri]

Snuggies piss me off on levels. Just goes to show you two things, a) that people are idiots and will buy anything, and b) you can tell people to wear a robe backwards and triple the price.  
oh and here's for laughs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h05ZQ7WHw8Y

[Msblue]

I only have the Ped Egg and the Magic Bullet. I like them both. I use the the MB mostly for grinding coffee.

I thought the "magic bullet" was a nickname given to a set of facts that demonstrate that Lee Harvey Oswald couldn't have shot JFK.

The name sounded like a product that would be ahem....stimulating.

[Ihateyoumike]

The name sounded like a product that would be ahem....stimulating.

Giggity.