List Price: $69.99
Sale Price: $53.27
Today's Bonus: 24% Off
THE OLD
I was never entirely happy with my Germanmade Rowenta which had a water retention problem. It was so bad that on the higher steam settings my clothes would get soaked on a regular basis, and when it started to stain my white clothes I just looked for an upgrade.
THE NEW
Two new Singer models advertised an antidrip mechanism; this one and the Expert Finish. According to Singer's website, the models are similar except for the LCD and more temperature levels on the Expert Finish. I'm from the "keep it simple" school of thought, so I forewent the wizardry and picked this version.
THE GOOD
As expected, the iron is easy to use. Pressing the power button cycles through the four temperature levels, lighting up the appropriate label on the handle. I really like that the temperature label blinks while the iron is not yet at the correct temperature, a useful gimmick which even works in reverse: for example, if you iron cotton and then switch to synthetics, the new label blinks while the iron cools down! The water retention feature works perfectly well, too: the only time it would fail and wet my clothes is when the iron hadn't achieved the set temperature yet (blinking label). Featurewise, we also have a dependable auto-sleep (as far as I can tell after ~1 year of use) and a cleanse function. Most importantly, I think the handling is good: the iron always slides nicely; and it's neither too heavy nor too light for my taste.
THE NOT SO GOOD
This iron is powerful, and perhaps a little too much so: with the light and TV on, the 20A breaker would trigger in my home. I solved this by running an extension cord to an extra circuit, but that's not convenient in every setup perhaps Singer didn't think of our weaker American household voltage? Also, the water retention mechanism occasionally makes a VERY startling noise, which sounds quite precisely like a fuse blowing. As for steam, I'd say it's sufficient but certainly not abundant even on maximum, so you'll have to press the burst button over wrinkles (which does work ok). Finally on the negative side, I find all four buttons (power, spray, burst, cleanse) hard to press.
THE VERDICT
The "not good" list seems long, but all in all this is a great iron which easily puts my Rowenta to shame, and at barely half the price! "I love it", i.e. five stars, is doing it justice in my opinion.
