With a measly 83% addiction to coffee, I had to improve my score. 83% is a B grade, bordering on a B minus and you know No Ka Oi alumni, a B minus is like failing! Can’t have that! So to up my score, I went looking for a new coffee maker.

I was shopping for a smaller coffee maker since our Mr. Coffee 12-cup coffee maker is ginormous, and the last time I made 12 cups of coffee was, well, never. So while looking on Amazon for reviews of small coffee makers, I stumbled across the Zutto made by Zojirushi. This is the same company that makes those fancy fuzzy logic rice cookers. So I figured if they can make rice taste better then they can make coffee taste better.

The Zutto EC-DAC50 is a 5-cup coffee maker that does a great job with the joe. The flavor of the coffee is balanced and consistent every time. With my Mr. Coffee, there would be good days and there would be bad days of taste. I’m sure the cone type filter (#2 size by the way) has a lot to do with extracting the most flavor from the grounds. Or it could be the longer brewing times. The Zutto is slower making the coffee but not by much. The full five cups takes about 8 minutes of brewing time. Or maybe the better taste is from the built-in carbon water filter. I’m not exactly sure but the coffee does taste better, and that’s all that really counts.

The water tank of the Zutto is removable, and I didn’t see the big deal initially. But now I get it. It’s way easier to clean out the removable tank instead of relying on a rinse of vinegar to clean out the water scum.

In the Amazon reviews, there were complaints that the Zutto made warm, not hot coffee. The coffee is hot enough for me, and I’d say freshly brewed Zutto would scald my tongue.

The main downside of the Zutto is the cost. A typical 4-5 cup coffee maker costs around $20. The Zutto is $65, three times as much. But then again, reviews of other small coffee makers were all over the place. The Zutto reviews were usually 4 or 5 stars.

And the Zutto makes a great gift for coffee drinkers who don’t down gallons a day.

Buy the Zojirushi EC-DAC50 Zutto 5-Cup Drip Coffeemaker.

Technorati Tags: caffeine, coffee

The SD700IS is small and easily fits in my pocket so I carry it around quite a bit. Because of its small size, you can operate it with one hand which usually makes for shaky and blurry pictures. Not to worry though since the “IS” stands for Image Stabilization and compensates nicely.

The SD700IS is fast. It powers on quickly, focuses quickly so you don’t miss that shot, and it’s ready to take the next picture in no time.

I like the image quality of Canon cameras. To me, the colors of Canon pictures look the best, especially the flesh tones. People’s skin may have a reddish tint with Canon images, but I like that better than washed out images I’ve seen from other cameras like Sonys. Yeah, you can adjust picture colors with image editing software, but I’m lazy and the Canon images are good enough for me.

The body of the camera is pretty tough, and there’s some weight to the camera making it easy to handle. The screen is huge, but the optical viewfinder is still available. When you’re trying to conserve your battery or bright sunlight is too much for the screen, you’ll be glad to have the optical viewfinder that most compact cameras no longer have.

And speaking of battery, the battery life of the SD700IS is unreal. After taking lots of pictures (and using the flash), I rarely get a low battery warning. I usually change the battery on my own instead of waiting for the battery to run down.

So if you’re looking for a digital camera, take a look at Canons. Although the SD700IS is still available, as Howard Jones said Things Can Only Get Better, and they have with the introduction of the PowerShot SD800IS and most recently, the PowerShot SD850IS.

Get yours now! Buy the Canon PowerShot SD850 IS 8.0 MP Digital Elph Camera with 4x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom.

Technorati Tags: Canon