Very good toaster, no frills & no problems
344079
UPDATE: 16 September 2015

This toaster is still working very well, I have no complaints. The heating element has "mellowed" slightly, so that the entire spread of darkness settings will not toast quite so darkly as during my first six months of use, but I emphasize: slightly. The toaster is easy to keep clean (I cover it with a towel when it's not in use) and maintain (the crumb tray is not the sturdiest, but if you're careful and not rough when handling it, there will be no problems). Well worth the purchase.
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I just bought this exact toaster, it was a "made in China" model, Waring branded. I've been using it for about one week so far and it's exactly as I'd hoped.

The exterior is beautiful and the controls are easy to understand. The cord is extremely heavy and the plug is securely attached. This is good: toasters draw high current and a thick cord will be less likely to cause trouble or become damaged over years of use. I don't think the cord cleats on the bottom of the toaster are solid enough to withstand the weekly movement of the toaster for cleaning, so I'm not using them. Instead the wire is coiled neatly and bound with the supplied wire-tie. For a heavy cord it is flexible enough to keep it out of the way when the unit is plugged in.

I've toasted two categories of bread with this. Generally I've found the middle-level setting of 3.5 on the scale from 1 to 6 is adequate for my tastes. I'd rather have my toast a bit underdone than a bit overdone, YMMV if you are more particular or exacting in your requirements. With frozen (just out of the freezer) whole-wheat hamburger buns, I get a nice dark brown result on both the inside and outside surfaces of the bun, and the toasted buns are still tender & moist inside. (Remember to press the control to select frozen items after starting the toast.) Nothing worse than a toasted but too-dry bun that comes apart when eaten. With defrosted but cool (from the fridge) bagels (not real New York bagels, don't get me started...), the same 3.5 gives a light brown toast to the inside and outside surfaces. For those who prefer only one side of the bagel toasted, this isn't the toaster for you, as it has no special setting for that mode of bagel toasting. Again, YMMV.

What I particularly like is that I can toast two of everything with the extra-long slots, which cuts down on prep time. I also like that I can see into the unit as it operates, so if something's ready before the normal toast cycle completes, just pressing the cancel button stops toasting immediately. Toasted items pop up so they're visible above the top of the unit (thus not easily forgotten). I typically use the lever to raise items an additional 2 to 2.5 inches or so, which makes removal a snap, no tongs necessary. Don't be a rube, wait a few minutes for everything to cool down. You won't burn your fingers & the toast won't get soggy on the bottom from sitting in its own steam on a much cooler plate. Relax & enjoy your toast in a few minutes!

Cleaning the crumb tray is easy, although the tray is small and could probably become bent or damaged if carelessly handled or dropped. I've cleaned the tray once so far, it was easy to remove and to reinstall. I used a damp cloth & warm water in the sink - I don't think putting the tray in the dishwasher is a good idea.

As other reviewers have noted, there's a bit of a burning electronics or plastic smell when the unit is new. After the first use, this went away completely. Since then I've not smelled anything other than nice hot toast, and I'm particularly sensitive to the smell of an electrical or electronic material burning.

As I continue to use this toaster, I'll update this review. But after one week of daily use, so far, so great!
2461992
This is a terrific toaster. Simple to use, works as advertised (except for the reference to "convection" in the online description- it isn't), and doesn't take up much counter space for its interior volume. It is far easier to clean than our previous toaster oven to boot. We are very pleased with it.
534918
We finally found a toaster that TOASTS! As you can see from the pic, this toaster is a bit blocky so be ready for a presence on your counter. The slots are long, wide & deep enough to fit real-life bread such as Orowheat & large bagels. It is all metal--amazing these days--so no burned plastic smell. We bought ours as a warehouse return & fairly quickly figured out what was wrong. The bagel setting is backwards. If you put the bagel in the "normal" way, the outside gets toasted. However, this is a quirk we can live with & is probably isolated to this individual toaster. We just turn the bagel around & proceed to toast. Otherwise we like everything about it. The controls are simple & intuitive and they actually work. #1-2 makes light toast & the higher settings make darker but evenly brown toast.
2378087
Did not want to spend much money on a toaster. This toaster was not only good priced I have been using it for 6 months and haven't had one single complaint about it. Really love the frozen toast and bagel options!
1576997
Cheap toaster that is actually good quality and gets the job done.
721498
I love this toaster! It works well, looks beautiful, and has all the features I could need and more (bagel setting, defrost, reheat, cancel). It has a pretty broad range--I've never gone higher than 4 out of 7 on the darkness scale, but I don't like really dark toast. I was a little curious/skeptical about the defrost feature, but it's been great.  The crumb tray is easy to pull out and clean, too.  My one complaint is that the cord is a little short and there's no cord storage, but otherwise I absolutely love it.  I've not been much impressed by toasters in the past, but this one has me actually eating breakfast every morning.
4883648
Not perfect but about as good as a toaster can get in the world of crappy toasters. It has interesting features such as "lift and look " And "a little more", both very handy. I wish it would toast a little more evenly, but I think in this day and age this is about as good as it gets. Very sleek, sharp design, looks excellent on the counter.

It's not bad enough to lower the star rating... but it's beginning to toast unevenly. The features previously listed are still great. I think most toasters nowadays are crap. This one is pretty good. I wanted it to be "the best" and "perfect"... it's not, but it's still good.
574729
I really like this toaster.  Lots of different settings, and toasts nicely.  Easy to clean crumb tray.  This cord is located in an unusual place but minor inconvenience.  Would purchase again.
845751
Really like the looks of this toaster. I was drawn to the fact that it was all stainless steel and didn't have any cheap-looking contrasting black plastic on it. It toasts pretty evenly, and seems to be well-suited for the long haul. Also, the defrost button is a nice feature and works pretty well, but I haven't used the bagel button.  One note for the prospective buyer: it is larger than almost any toaster I have seen. It's not enormous, maybe 25% bigger than average. That was the biggest surprise with this unit.
107321
This toaster is nothing fancy, but it works good enough for the occasional toast eater. I would not try any of the higher settings. Seems to work well around a 2.
3574945
This toaster had gotten good reviews in Consumers Reports, so I was interested in it, but thought the price was too high.  When the price dropped recently, I bought one, and it has lived up to the magazine's reviews.  It is easy to use and generally browns evenly.  Just be sure to follow the directions, since different kinds of bread toast at different levels.

Also, I have had a few other toasters in recent years that all seemed flimsy--very thin metal bars, for instance, that would raise and lower the toast, so that eventually they would bend under the weight of a bagel.  So far, this toaster seems more robust in design.  I'll keep you posted!
48371
We like this toaster, simple design, like the bagel and defrost options, it works well and doesn't take up a lot of space on the counter.
2444509
It's only a toaster, but a great toaster it is.
1939536
So far, so good. Toaster works fine for bread, English muffins, & bagels. Small counter footprint, smart looking, and the blue LEDs provide an accurate display of time required / remaining. We do need to cut out extra long bread slices in half, but that is a rather small price to pay for properly toasted breakfast items.
3590217
The toaster arrived on time and as advertised.  It is very light weight and I was concerned about its potential quality.  However, it has worked very well so far ( a few months) and I am pleased with this BLACK+DECKER toaster.
2647747
I requested this item on my wedding registry based on the chrome finish and bagel features.  The toaster works really well, and I like the way it toasts bagels on only one side (the cut side) when you select that feature.  You can also lift the handle to raise a small piece of toast.  The toaster never slides around the countertop, which previous toasters I've owned did, because of the skid-resistant bottom.  Very nice toaster for a single person, newly-weds, or small household.
2884612
My friends will admit that toasters have been something of an obsession with me lately.  I've bought and returned products from T-Fal, Cuisinart and Russell Hobbs, all for poor basic toasting function.
Finally, a toaster that works.  Here are the key points:
*  It makes consistently good toast, reasonably quickly, totally consistently.  Toast is evenly browned on both sides.  Think every toaster does this?  Try the Cuisinart CPT-180.
*  Its #8 (maximum) setting will go long enough to blacken even homemade bread during a single cycle (most toasters will require two cycles at max setting to make even dark brown toast).  But it can also be set to toast lightly.
*  The toasting lever raises bread high enough to give easy access to even very small pieces.  Russell Hobbs' unit leaves you with burned fingers every morning.
*  Controls are simple to use, feel very solid.
*  The unit looks good, and its design takes up very little space.  Black plastic ends are a little cheap looking, but not a big deal.
This is a great toaster, and I recommend it without reservation.