I bought this toaster and it arived and as soon as I plugged it in there was a spark inside and my circuit breaker tripped. I sent it back and my next one was DOA. It turns out that the exact same thing was the root of my problems. This time I opened it up a found that the black power cord had pulled off of its connector. The reason it pulled off is that it is wrapped around a 3 ounce metal doughnut (which is typically used to reduce line noise in devices like computers or monitors). Why would a toaster care about line noise? It's a toaster and not some hi-tech piece of electronics. Anyway, shipping this unit has about an 100% chance that the electrical connection will become disconnected. The connector is pretty far from the bottom and I had to disassemble more than I wanted to to re-attach it. Keep in mind that I'm servicing a brand-new $300+ appliance just to get it working. Now I know why there's a warning sticker on the bread crumb pan that warns you to unplug the unit prior to removing the pan. Are you kidding me? This indicates that Dualit knows that the power connector can come loose and enegize the entire outside of the toaster but has done nothing to prevent it (like mounting that doughnut thing on something).

Now the good part: I have been using a toaster oven to make toast for years. I didn't realize how much of a difference a dedicated toaster would make. In fact, the toast is far superior when using a toaster as oposed to a toaster oven; however, I think that any toaster would perform just as well.

In the areas of durability, commercial quality and superiority, I don't think Dualit meets my expectations in any one of them. The metal (at least is metal) is quite thin and has poor fit between pieces. The heating elements are thinner than a paper clip. I'm really not impressed and wish I bought a $30 B&D toaster and saved a bunch of money. Lastly, don't even think about buying the sandwich basket since it's just too small.

For about the same price, you can buy a real commercial toaster from Waring or Oster and it will last forever.

Update 8/08: Reported electrocution concern to US Consumer Product Safety Commission and they sent out an agent to review my toaster. The agent said it was a good report and that W&S and Dualit will be investigated. Imagine that you get killed by your toaster -- That would be a shame.

My love for this toaster lasted all of two days. Were I not so thrilled with its looks, I would have thrown it out in the first 20 minutes. It's like a handsome, charming man who happens to be useless, lazy, and incompetent.

Now two years have passed, and I hate the thing. It still warms up slowly, still toasts WILDLY unevenly, still takes up too much space, still has slots that can't accommodate thick bread or wide bread, and now even the ticking of the timer has begun to get on my nerves. Probably because I know that after three minutes of listening to it, 1/2 of my slice will be toasted, 1/4 of my slice will be burnt black, and 1/4 of my slice will be untouched by heat. I'd have gotten a better piece of toast if I lit the $300 on fire and waved a slice of bread over the flames.

I got online today to buy a new toaster, and decided to swing by here to warn any prospective buyers of this Dualit away!

Very Fast shipping ---- great item!! I love the toaster it is the best I have ever had!!! and I have had ALOT.

What can one say about the ultimate in toasters. You spend this kind of money on a toaster when just looking at it turns you on. Making toast is secondary. This is a show off appliance in your kitchen. Made by the British who love their toast and even have toast caddies to server toast on tables. Americans tend to think toast has to be service piping hot. The British just concentrate on the bread being toaster perfectly and crisply, which is why on this toaster, the bread doesn't pop up, but the heating element just turns off, leaving the toast to stay nicely warm and dry so it maintains its crispness.

A very rich friend of mine has been using this toaster for years. I was jealous. Now I have my own. Too bad I'm on a low carb diet. :)

Get this if you like having the best in appliances. You can't go wrong.

Nancy

I bought this product (the 4 slice, shiny chrome model) back in June 2004. I had "discovered" Dualit toasters a couple of months prior, and had been coveting one, as my 2 year old Wally World toaster was starting to kick the bucket. Since my family and I had now went through 3 toasters in only 12 years, I started thinking it might make sense to buy a higher quality product.

When I first started researching them on the internet, I truly was mind-boggled by the price. However, by the next morning, when I had to toast my son's frozen waffles 4 times in a row in our only 2 year old Wally World toaster, I started reconsidering. So, I returned to Amazon and placed it on my Wish List, with the plans of checking the price from time to time. Much to my suprise, a couple of months later, it went on a drastic sale...less than 50% of what it sells for today. I have no clue as to why...perhaps the box packaging design was changed, or something else? I really don't know, but as far as the toaster, it was brand new, and looks exactly like the ones being sold today.

A few days later, my Dualit arrived, and I anxiously took it out of the box. I was a little suprised at the large size of it, but it quickly grew on me as I like the retro look of it. It also had a nice hefty weight to it, that spoke of quality.

After plugging it in, I immediately tried it out on a couple of slices of white bread...and burned my toast to a charred black mess. The next time around, with a bit of experimentation with a lower number on the timer, I had toast success. Over the last 3 1/2 years, I have consistenly gotten evenly toasted bread, bagels, waffles, etc. When using a cold toaster, I get the best results by pre-heating it for just a minute...I put it on one number higher than I really want, and it pre-heats while I am getting my bread or bagel out of the bag. I love the lever that lets me check my toast any time I want, without actually stopping the toasting. Another reason I like this lever is because I usually buy Thomas's Mini Bagels. In a normal toaster, you'd have to dig these small bagels out with wooden tongs. In the Dualit, I simply give the lever a swift swat, and they pop right out. I also really like the fact that toast stays in until I manually pop it up. If I'm cooking eggs, bacon, etc and I'm not ready for the toast yet, it stays warm for a few minutes.

So...why did I give this great product only 4 stars instead of 5? First of all, I really do think it is overpriced. Remember as I said before, I paid slightly less than 50% of what Amazon is selling it for currently. So, I personally think I got the deal of the century, and it's worth every dollar that I paid for it. Secondly, it's a bit of a pain to remember to toggle the switch from 2 to 4 slices. I understand why this feature is there (energy saving), but it's still annoying. After 3 1/2 years we are well used to the switch now, and no longer forget about it. But for the first year or so, we ruined quite a few batches of toast. The third reason is the timer dial. Sometimes I decide to pop up my toast early, and there is still a good bit of time left on the dial. If I try to turn the dial the opposite way to turn the toaster off, it is VERY hard to turn...so difficult that I stopped doing it after a couple of tries, fearing that I would break something inside the timer gears. Perhaps that is just the way the timer dial is designed, but it would be nice if Dualit had addressed it in the instruction guide. The fourth reason, is that the slots are not wide enough to hold a jumbo bagel without smashing it a bit. I personally prefer the Thomas Mini Bagels, which will get practically lost in any toaster, but my husband and son prefer the jumbo bagels. Even though this product is made in England, and perhaps English people don't eat bagels, it would still behoove Dualit to redesign the product with wider slots...all the better for toasting sandwiches, wide bread, etc. Plus the jumbo bagel lovers of the world would be happy. :)

That's pretty much it for my review...long, but hopefully helpful to someone out there. I've already told my son that when his dad and I die, I plan on willing him the Dualit toaster along with my Kitchen Aid mixer (bought refurbished from Amazon for a pittance). He rolls his eyes at me now, but maybe his future wife will appreciate the gesture. :)

This isn't really related to my review, but does anyone know how to SAFELY clean the shiny chrome on the toaster? I'm not the best housekeeper, and don't wipe mine off after every use. As such, I've developed a few light brown stains around the top slots. I've tried using soap and water, and also Windex, but neither worked. I'm afraid of marring the beautiful finish and haven't tried anything else. Any suggestions? If so, please add a comment to this review. Thanks!