I’m giving a lot more detail below, but to sum up:  what you think of this device is largely going to depend on what you want from it.  To me, this device’s best tagline would have identified it as a “wake-up station”…telling you everything you need or want to know as you wake up to begin your day.  So yeah, in short, it’s a glorified alarm clock.  Imagine though, if you will, if your alarm clock could:

• tell you weather and traffic at a glance
• have multiple alarms per day, each with their own sounds, configurable in any way you want…if you want to wake up at a different time each day, with a different tone each day, it can handle that.  (Really, if you’ve ever used your cellphone as your alarm clock, consider everything your cellphone can do as an alarm clock…this can do all the same stuff, without you ever having to worry about all the problems of cellphones as alarm clocks…and if you don’t know what the problems of a cellphone as an alarm clock are, ask me, and I’ll happily iterate them for you.)
• quickly show you a few e-mails, status updates, or photos
• let you go to sleep/snooze to a podcast or internet video

If you look at that list and think, “wow, that’s exactly what I want in an alarm clock,” then you’re the target user for the Sony Dash. Sadly, they’re not marketing it to you at all. Really, they’re barely doing anything to sell this device. I’ve seen exactly zero ads. Were it not for Engadget, I wouldn’t have even known it was available or what it was. And, stupidly, what Sony is doing is positioning this so it goes up against things like the iPad and Archos tablet. Sony should be positioning this as the best damn alarm clock in the world. That’s their mistake and what will, IMO, make this device fail.

On that note, I’ve seen alot of reviewers poo-poo the Sony Dash by saying “oh, my cellphone could do this” or “oh, my iPad does this better”. Well, your cellphone and iPad don’t do what this does, because neither of those devices are meant to sit still on a bedside table. Your cellphone and likely your iPad get up and leave when you do, which makes them nearly useless as an alarm clock unless you are a single person living alone. Even if you are a single person (or if you are willing to have separate devices for each person), you’d need to buy several accessories to make a cellphone or iPad sit as nicely as this does on a surface. So, long story short, a cellphone and an iPad appeal to a broader audience, no doubt, but, this device hits a very necessary niche for which the iPad and cellphone are ill-designed.

Below are a few of my favorite things about the Sony Dash:

• Very fast and easy setup on the device — you can use the device without going to the web, but there are quite a few apps that require configuration via the web, and the web config has issues (see Cons list)
• Design is sleek.  It looks damn cool on your bedside table.
• Pleasing UI, simple to navigate
• AccuWeather weather (a plus over other weather services, IMO)
• Sits securely (can be rubbed by cat without falling over)
• Bright and colorful screen, videos look great
• Completely customizable alarms and alarm clock
• “night mode” that dims the screen and shows only the clock, when the next alarm is set for and the weather in black and white…though I did notice today that it’s got a little “mom” that writes itself in in cursive, which is kind of a cool “surprise” bit of chrome
• Price is just about right, in my opinion.  It’d be better at $99, of course, but at $199, I think they exclude some of the really basic users that would potentially not understand the device while still making it cheap enough to be a gadget-head impulse buy.  It’s well under a netbook price point, even less than some cellphones that have the same functionality.  Plus, $199 is the start…my guess is that retailers are getting ~30% from this which gives them room to discount it in the future.  (If Sony ripped out everything but the alarm clock and weather functions, shrank the screen, and got it to $99 or $79, that’d be a very nice product…would beat the heck out of the “executive neverlate alarm clock” which is just terrible on so many counts and sells for $80-$120 depending on where you go.)
• Usable touch keyboard, fine for posting to Twitter or Facebook, but I wouldn’t use it to type a long e-mail
• Really good selection of default sounds loaded
• Was able to access my Amazon purchased videos and play them easily, and since I haven’t bought anything else that does that yet (except my PCs, of course), that’s a nice feature for me. 

Now for the bad news.  There are three issues that, in my opinion, are near blocking issues.  They’re on a level where, if I weren’t an early adopter geek (who also happens to be desperately in need of a really good and customizable alarm clock), I’d have returned this device already based on these issues:

• USB drives are not working yet.  This is huge, because they promise this on the box, and it’s the only way to access your own music from the box (no DLNA or other wireless transfer support).  It says “coming soon” if you attempt to play music from a USB drive.  Were I not in love with this as my alarm clock, I’d return it based on this alone.  That Sony let it out the door with this broken is just insane.
• The web setup is a mess.  The site itself looks shoddy, like no one actually cared enough to make it look nice…and the configuration area is not easily accessible from Sony’s main site.  You have to go to Sony’s “MyEssentials” site (a term/brand that is in no way associated with the Dash), and that site is not linked from the Sony Dash page on Sony’s site, nor from Sony’s main site.  Logging in from Sony’s main site and clicking on “my devices” takes forever to load, so I never found out if I could get to the Dash config site from there.  To find the config site after the initial setup, I ended up going to chumby.com, trying my Sony login, and then Chumby re-directed me to the MyEssentials site.  Basically, the setup on the Dash itself is so simple, but as soon as you hit the point that you need to use the web to configure something, you’re lost.  For this reason alone, I can’t recommend this for non-geeks…which sucks because if this were fixed, I could see this being a really nice gift for a number of non-geeks in my family.  I mean, this is basic stuff that they blew off, and it speaks volumes to Sony’s lack of commitment to this device.
• No web browser…which I wouldn’t care about if there were more apps or if this weren’t being sold as a “personal internet viewer”…but to call yourself an internet viewer and not have a browser is just sad.  Plus, this makes the apps themselves frustrating.  Most of them are just ported iPhone apps, which means they assume you can click links to view more.

There are also quite a few minor issues which Sony/Chumby could resolve in the next few months via software updates:

• Not enough “apps” (really, they’re widgets)…lots of popular news and info sites are not represented, and the apps themselves are not the greatest quality. 
• The layout options are limited.  There’s only two layouts, and neither of them are satisfying.  For example, there’s no layout that has two app panes.  You can’t customize shortcuts in any of the layouts, either, so you can’t (for example) make sure that the Amazon Video shortcut is the first (or only) one available.
• Not easy to switch between “channels” (different views with different apps…for example, I have a productivity channel that has my Gmail and Gcal in it and a separate social networking channel that has all of my social networks and news feeds), takes 4 steps to switch plus a not-insignificant load time.  Basically makes the channel feature useless because it’s too annoying to switch channels.  You’re better off just loading all the apps you want into your default channel.
• No copy/paste functionality…a pain if you’re wanting to post a status to multiple sites
• No podcast browser.  NYTimes podcasts are accessible via their pre-loaded app, but if you want any other podcasts, you’re SOL.
• Chumby’s little flying monster logo still shows up on most of the apps, which could confuse people as to what it is or why it shows up, since Sony does not acknowledge Chumby’s existence at all in the Dash’s UI or setup.

Then there are some issues which are, admittedly, by design.  That is, Sony never intended the device to have these features and will probably never give it these features, but they’re features that I really think would have made the device better and more usable to a broader audience.

• No accessible internal memory…and assuming they get USB sticks working, there are two issues with this.  First, you have to keep your USB stick in all the time if you want to wake up to an MP3.  Second, knowing that you have to keep a USB drive in it, the little rubber cover over the USB and 3.5mm port makes that uglier than it needed to be.  I do think if you got a nano USB drive, the rubber cover might close over it, but you shouldn’t have to do that.  They should have made the USB port more public (not to mention that IT SHOULD WORK) since they knew people would need to keep memory in it.  Or, heck, put in an SD card slot instead, to align more with the picture frame type device.
• No DLNA or wireless drive access…again, this is mostly a problem because there’s no accessible internal memory.  If I could tell this to wake me up to an MP3 that is loaded on my Zune (which has DLNA) without having to connect my Zune, that’d be sweet. 
• No battery – it must be plugged in to use it…and I complain less about this than Engadget or other reviewers have because the design of this is clearly meant to be a fixed device.  It’s heavy and relatively bulky, and it’s weighted to be stable on a surface, not to be carried around
• No multi-touch – which, if they implement a browser, will be a bigger deal.
• No line-in to allow a separate PMP to use the speakers and/or screen (so, no waking up to music from your iPod) — this one is something that is a big nice to have. I think with this kind of device, anything you can do to make it have more than one purpose is a good thing.  If I could plug in a PMP or smartphone and have it take over the screen and speakers, that’d be a very nice feature.

I don’t know when or if Amazon will post the review, but I had fun doing it. Heck, if I can someday make a career out of reviewing sex products, I’ll be a happy camper.

Since DH and I were hungry when we got in yesterday, we headed straight to the MoA for food. We ended up eating at Famous Dave’s, and it was tasty. Then, we walked around the 3rd floor and part of the 2nd floor. The 2nd floor seems to be a bunch of stores that are not unusual, but the 3rd floor had a game store and a bunch of kitschy stores, like a store of just socks, a store dedicated to cat and dog items, the As Seen on TV store, and a Minnesota-themed store.

There are roller coasters in the mall. I’m going to make DH ride them, so I can enjoy them vicariously.

Edited on 5/27 to add: You can view the photos from this trip at this link, in the Gallery of the Org*.

Things that are awesome that you will not find being mentioned on most reviews and blogs:

• The Zune comes with various sized earbuds. (You hear that Apple? PEOPLE DON’T ALL HAVE GIANT EARHOLES!) Yay Zune for going the good route instead of making you buy a separate set. Oh, and the earbuds have a really cool and durable cord…overall, they seem very nice for freebie, inbox earbuds.
• The Zune Originals unboxing experience was superb. Also, on the back of my Zune, in addition to the artwork I selected and the engraving I selected, it says “Hello from Seattle.” I find this awesome. Hello right back at ya, Zune!
• Zune lets you do individual settings for podcasts. This is a feature that DH and I have been *screaming* for, for forever. We are both heavy podcasters, him moreso than I. It is very annoying in iTunes that you only get a global setting for podcasts (that is, you can keep 10 episodes of everything, all episodes of everything, etc.). For political podcasts that are weekly or daily, I really only want the most recent one. For something like This American Life, I want all of the ones that I haven’t heard yet. Zune lets you set this on a per podcast basis, as well as a global default. AWESOME.
• Even better, you can tell Zune how you want to hear the podcasts. So, for example, you can tell it that when you click to play “Slate’s Political Gabfest”, it should start with the most recent instance, but when you click to play “Jay and Jack’s Lost Podcast”, it should start with the oldest instance. Brilliant.
• In the Zune marketplace, you can filter it by audio podcasts or video podcasts. Again, this is a very basic feature that iTunes has just completely blown off.

Given the above, I am *shocked* that I saw a number of reviewers saying that the Zune was not good for podcasts. The Zune software is better for podcasts than any other software I’ve seen, including Songbird and a host of other “indie” managers I’ve tried.

Additionally, there’s all the things that you will hear about on blogs and reviews: wireless syncing, XBox compatibility, overall sweet UI, etc. Those are all nifty, too, but I’m reveling in the things that I didn’t know before I bought Zune and that would have convinced me to buy it sooner if someone had just told me.

And now, I’m going to cry if they discontinue Zune as was rumored earlier this year. Please, Microsoft gods, keep Zune!

In Taipei, I’d paid ~$330 for my camera. This was a markup of $30-50 over what the US model was going for on Amazon at the time, but I was desperate and in a foreign country, with no time to comparison shop. So, I bought it. This time, even though I was again desperate, I was in my homeland, with the stores I know and love just a GPS click away. I figured it would be a much quicker and easier shopping experience.

We started at Best Buy. I like their rewards program, and for this kind of thing, where I know what I want, I find them to be a good retail option. After much looking around, I find my preferred camera on sale for $279. But (and I had this hesitation in Taipei, too), I was worried about pocketability. I didn’t mind a larger camera than my previous two, but it still needed to easily fit in my purse and pocket. Problem was, Best Buy had the camera on an anti-theft post. I could kind of shove it into my pocket to test, but it felt awkward. And, I couldn’t tell if I was feeling awkward because of the giant anti-theft mechanism or the camera. We call over a salesguy, who doesn’t seem to be occupied with other things. Speaking of, I shit you not, there was a LINE to get into Best Buy at opening, either because they opened later than they used to…new 2009 hours were posted at the door…or because Floridians are just that excited about electronics…but the place was relatively busy.

Me (with DH standing nearby): Hey, I’m thinking of getting this camera, but I really need to know if it will fit into my pocket or purse, and the anti-theft thingie is making it hard to tell. Could you unlock it just long enough for me to check it out?
Salesguy: No, I can’t do that. We have smaller models over there. (points and starts to walk away)
Me: Yeah, but I like *this* one…I just need to be sure that it will fit okay. Do you have a display model or something, maybe an already-open box?
Salesguy: No, we don’t do that. (very terse)
DH: Is there a manager or someone who *does* have a key and can unlock it for us?
Salesguy: I’ll get a manager for you in a minute. I have to help another customer. (walks away and begins talking to a customer who is looking at a sub-$150 camera)

Okay, benefit of the doubt: maybe the guy was in the middle of helping them and we didn’t realize it. But either way, doesn’t basic customer service dictate that you simply apologize, say you’re helping someone else and either offer to be back shortly (right at the beginning of the conversation) or get one of your salesguy-friends to come help? I guess, even giving this guy the benefit of the doubt, I was left with a crappy customer service vibe. DH and I came to this conclusion while standing there and decided that there are other stores nearby that we can go to…and even if the guy does get a manager to help us, we don’t want him getting a commission, so we walk out with the intention of coming back if this turns out to be the best price.

Our next stop was Target. My Target-branded Visa was my primary credit card now (as my usual ones got stolen), so I would get decent rewards by shopping with them, too. And, since I have a price point and model in mind, I figure it’s a reasonable alternative. But, Target’s selection was clearly geared at “cheap and compact” so my camera-of-choice wasn’t there. We scanned their purse selection for an alternative park purse and bombed on that count, too. (Of all places, why doesn’t the Target that is the closest Target to Disney (albeit still about 8-10 miles away) have a good park purse selection instead of silly fashion purses with short straps? :: sigh ::)

On the way to Target, DH had spotted a Ritz Camera, and he suggested that as an option. I initially pooh-poohed it. I, like any consumer, have perceptions about stores, and my perception of smaller camera shops like Ritz and Wolf is that they jack up the prices on cameras to near retail. DH pointed out, though, that we know how much it should cost, and so we can either try to get them to price match Best Buy or just go back to Best Buy if they’re a bust.

We walk in. It’s quiet. We go straight to the digital camera section, and they’re behind a glass case. Up toward the top, we see two Panasonics. One seems to be the new year’s model of the one that was stolen (priced at $360), with some minor updates, and the other is my camera-of-choice priced at $279. Well, I’ll be damned. And, even better yet, a salesguy comes over to us, asks if we need help…I tell him my situation and that I want to know if that Panasonic (innnn the window, woof woof!) will fit okay in my pocket. He unlocks the case and hands it over. I look it over, test it in pocket and purse, click a few shots, check the UI (Best Buy’s model had a dead battery), and basically fall in love. I tell the salesguy that I’ll take this one. DH thoughtfully asks if they have one with a charged battery (by now, I’ve explained the precise situation, theft, Taipei, and all, to the salesguy). Salesguy thinks for a minute and then checks his two floor models, but both have a low battery. He apologizes for not having a charged one handy…says they charge them throughout the day.

I bought a high-speed SD (class 6) card from him, too. Now, I’d planned to buy an “any ol’ memory card” for now, with intent to raid my collection of cards for a high-speed one once I got home…but I wanted to reward the customer service. So, I paid a really huge mark-up on the SD card ($39 for what should cost under $15).

Then, we went back to the room and plugged in the camera to charge. Meanwhile, we went to the pool for a quick swim before our bridge session. We ended up playing only the first half of the match (on a six-person team in KOs, each pair only has to play at least half of the session), so then we got to rent bikes and tour Port Orleans for awhile in the afternoon. We ate beignets at the French Quarter and took lots of pictures. I enjoyed riding a “cruiser” bike. We considered renting a Surrey bike or a kayak, but it turns out that you can’t take the kayaks to downtown disney’s lake (which was our interest in a kayak) and you can’t take the Surrey bikes to French Quarter (which was part of what we wanted to do on a bike). I took lots of pictures with my new camera. I love it. I’m really glad that I got it.

We had dinner with my parents at the Sizzler. We parked the truck where it was visible from a restaurant window. The Sizzler was a pretty good dinner deal, and it was good to reconcile the day’s activities with my parents.

We played both halves of the evening session (our picked-up pair wanted to cut out early to see the college football game), and we won…and not by a small amount, either. Yay for us! So, we made our teammates both life masters, which was a cool accomplishment. As for me, I’m less than a point away from being a “fake life master”…I’m missing 25+ black (club/local game) points, but I have the necessary red (sectional), silver (regional), and gold (top prize at regional and point-limited national events) points. I’ve decided that if the ACBL wants to withhold life master over black points, they can keep it. Fake Life Master is good enough for me.

Relevant photo albums: Port Orleans Riverside

It was mostly my stuff that got taken. They took my daypack backpack, which was this bag from Sherpani, and unfortunately, since we were eating at a buffet, I had tucked my “park purse” inside. My park purse was a $10 “Sunwashed Canvas Pouch” from LL Bean (now discontinued, which SUCKS because it was a PERFECT park purse…I could fit either my Kindle or my DS in it, along with camera, and ID…and not much else. It fit very nicely in cross-strap form, and the straps could be reconfigured as a backpack. Perfect! Damn your discontinuing, LL Bean!). Inside the bags:

• 3 cans of soda (DH had taken them for bridge)
• Our bridge convention cards and holders (Oh noes! The thieves can steal our system!)
• My digital camera. Yes, the one I had just bought in Taiwan. Enjoy learning Chinese, thieves! Thankfully, I’d just downloaded the pictures from it last night, and I didn’t do that much picture-taking today.
• My iPod and (nice, noise-cancelling) earbuds
• 2 credit cards (our joint MC and my personal Discover)…and they had managed to put the following purchases on them when we called to alert the companies: $327 at the Nike Factory store up the way from where we were, $150 at a Walgreen’s (DH thinks they bought burner phones. He’s been watching The Wire. ), some amount at a Disney outlet store, and around $300 in other stuff that we didn’t get the specifics.
• My driver’s license…so getting through the airport on Sunday should be fun.
• My park pass/room key. Already cancelled with Disney, and they don’t print your resort name or room number on it, so no chance of the burglars getting to our room.
• A Tigger pen I’d bought at the Pooh store at Downtown Disney today
• Miscellaneous park survival kit items: tylenol, ibuprofen, Celebrex, Dramamine, band-aids, ponytail holders…and the pill case that it was all in
• $10 in cash (I don’t tend to carry much cash, thank goodness!)

So, how did this happen? Well, we went into the Golden Corral near Disney for dinner, and while we were inside, they got into the truck and grabbed my bag, and my mom’s bag. When we came back out to the truck, we didn’t even notice anything was wrong until I started poking around and didn’t see my bag where I’d left it. Then, my mom noticed that one of her bags (fortunately, just a little totebag that had a notepad and not much else in it) was also missing and realized that we got robbed. We called the cops (my cellphone was in my pocket) at that point. My dad did a circle check of the nearby trashcans, in case the thieves ditched the bags somewhere.

There are many silver linings, though. The first and most important is that DH almost went back out to the truck while we were in the restaurant to get my bag so he could have some tylenol. It would have sucked mightily if he’d interrupted the robbery in progress and gotten shot or stabbed or who knows what. I’ll keep my DH and let them have my stuff, thank you very much. The second is that my parents’ truck is still driveable and so they can get home okay. The third is that DH and I were in a knockout and had survived to the evening session, and the bridge directors were kind enough to let us add a pair to our team at the second round (making it a 6-person team) so that we could keep playing. And, the pair we added seems to be really good, so we lucked out there. (We made one of our teammates a life master tonight, but I digress.) Fourth, most of my credit cards, as well as a host of other ID-type thingies, are back in the hotel room. Fifth, my parents almost brought their laptop with them, to access the internet from BW3 while we were out, but they forgot it. And the sixth is that…well, it sucks to lose my stuff, but this means that I get to go shopping for new techie goodies. The digital camera that I had wanted to get wasn’t at the store in Taipei, so I can get the one I actually wanted…and the iPod loss sucks mightily, but I’d been kind of wanting to upgrade to a 120GB Zune anyways, so I could watch my Amazon Video purchases on it…and I don’t wear it around my neck very much anymore, so the nano’s size advantage doesn’t do anything for me.

The police officer who took the report was very nice and upbeat. He took a fingerprint from the door, and he re-assured me that I would be able to fly home. He asked me if I want to press charges, if they catch the people who did it, and I was like, why wouldn’t I? All I could think about was that this wasn’t like I’d been raped or something where I wouldn’t want to face the court. But, I guess, lots of people don’t want to press charges because you have to come back to Orlando for the court date. If you don’t show up for court, the charges are automatically dropped. But I was like, hell yeah I’ll come back. We have family in the area that we can stay with, and I have an assload of frequent flier miles. I told him that if he can catch them, I’ll come down, point at them, and do whatever he needs me to do. He said he would go over to the Nike factory store right after he finished with us and see if they can get a camera footage of the purchase and also check the trashcans and stuff nearby to see if the thieves ditched the bags there. Honestly, I was very impressed with the officer’s professionalism and courtesy. I wrote him an e-mail saying as much. I’ve been in situations that were similar before in New Orleans, and I mean…you’d think in a tourist town that the cops would be jaded and not interested in anything except getting back to “real work”…but this guy seemed to take a true interest in helping us, making sure I was okay and generally making me feel better about the situation, pointing out that I’m the victim, that I shouldn’t feel stupid, things like that.

In other news, we played in a knockout yesterday, and we got knocked out in the first match. (We had a bad draw, and we held our own…it wasn’t a blowout.) We went to Downtown Disney this morning, via the ferry from Port Orleans. On the ferry ride, we saw a new resort being built. It’s for the Vacation Club, but it’s a bunch of treehouses! It’s really cool looking.

I’d been to Downtown Disney’s West Side before, and I wasn’t impressed. But, I’d never been to the Marketplace side, which is filled with Disney stores! I loved the Pooh store, and I’m looking forward to coming back to explore some of the other stores. As I’ve said more than a few times on this trip, there’s a person who is a Disney-phile, who collects and trades pins, who decorates their house in mouse, and so forth…and I could so easily become one.

My fandom of Disney is unusual. I like the music from the movies, but even more than that, I like Disney’s ruthless efficiency. I like WDW’s level of detail, the glossy experience. I know it means that they have horribly evil rules and such for the employees, but I respect that the result is something uniquely successful and appealing. I love the engineering that goes into their rides and attractions. I like that, despite being a “family destination”, Disney has generally welcomed alternative lifestyles and been friendly to their business. Generally, I really respect Disney. And, I love the parks. I really do. I love the silly little theming, even. So yeah, it’s a battle I fight to keep myself from buying Disney cups, bowls, aprons, dishcloths, antenna decorations, camera bags, purses, shoes, jewelry…because I love all of it.

Anyways, we decided to keep the same team and play in a knockout today, and we won our first match by a relatively large amount, due in no small part to DH and I’s successful bidding of a grand slam in clubs. We also nailed our second match, and so we’re playing again tomorrow afternoon.

Oh, and we had breakfast this morning at Boatwright’s at Port Orleans. AWESOME French Toast…it was so good. Tomorrow morning, we’ll probably do quick breakfast and go shopping for a new digital camera for me, and then maybe try to squeeze in a kayak or bike rental to explore the resort.

• Prepped and cooked rice in my brand new Sanyo fuzzy logic rice cooker! delicious!
• Programmed our Logitech Harmony 880 remote to work with the new basement setup
• Went grocery shopping for soda, rice, and breakfast food for the weekend
• Gathered dirty dishes from the basement and put them upstairs
• Vacuumed out my car (the floormats were really grody)
• Downloaded the Tomb Raider: Underworld demo and Portal: Still Alive

It’s worth noting that I rarely cook, and when I do cook, it’s likely to be breakfast or a fast meal. Thus, my list of kitchen essentials focuses on breakfast and speed.

THINGS TO HAVE:

• Mini Food Processor: If you have the space for a big one, more power to you. But, if you’re like me and countertop space is at a premium, get a mini. I use mine for making twice-baked cauliflower mash, latkes, and for making a very fine grate of red and green pepper for use in omelets. It’s a huge timesaver, and it doesn’t take up much room.
• Toaster: It’s the fast hot breakfast of champions. Get one with a bagel setting to have perfectly toasted bagels or to fine-tune the toasting of your pop tarts. (I prefer a true toaster to a toaster oven, but if you’re in a smaller space (e.g., dorm room), a toaster oven is a multipurpose gem.)
• The Kapoosh Universal Knife Block – Knife sets are just stupid. Most of us will never need half the knives that they give you. Give me a solid Japanese Santoku knife or two, a small paring knife, and a pair of good kitchen scissors, and I’m good to go. Problem is, most knife blocks force you to have the set that they want you to have, not the set that you need. Enter the Kapoosh. You put the knives in however you want, whatever knives you want. It’s perfect. If they’d had the red when I bought mine, I’d have the red version. Oh, and the instructions are hilarious.
• Stick Blender: I use this more than just about any other gadget in my kitchen. It makes whisking eggs a breeze. Tired of having crusty goo at the bottom of your drink mixes? Give this a spin or two, and it’s perfectly mixed. It’s great for making marinades and sauces, but I rarely use mine for that purpose. It’s a super-fast whisker for me.
• Good pans: My preference is the Calphalon Copper Tri-Ply (outer surface is copper, inside is aluminum core, interior surface is steel). I have a large cooking pan and 2 omelet pans. (And again, NEVER buy a set. A set gives you crap you don’t need that will just clutter up your kitchen. Buy just the pans you need.) Some people prefer cast iron. Some people want the easy care of a nonstick variant. It’s up to you, but this is something to blow a wad on versus going cheap. My quality-of-omelet tripled once I had a good pan.
• Grill (a Foreman-esque one for the winter and a propane one outside for the summer): Grilling is the best kind of cooking. I grill burgers, chicken, pork chops, veggies…you can grill anything. When it’s too cold outside to fire up the propane, keep an electric grill handy. I’m not a fan of the George Foreman grill line, but there are some great variants out there. (For the record, my grief with the George Foreman grills is that they do not have removable grilling surfaces. I want to be able to run the grill surface through the dishwasher.)

THINGS TO SKIP:

• Expensive corkscrew: Unless you’re into wine, you just don’t need this. If you’re like us, your wine comes in a box or with a screw-off cap anyways.
• Mortar and Pestle: I don’t care how good it tastes. Who has time to grind their own herbs?
• The ubiquitous spice rack: They tease you by making them so pretty, but you don’t need this. The spices you want to use all the time are going to be on or near your stove. Whether you like it or not, that’s where they’ll end up. The ones you use less often are better stored in a cabinet (or sometimes refrigerator) than in a rack that gathers dust in a corner.
• Fondue pots, smores makers, and the like: Yeah, I’ve fallen for this one, and I have a cabinet of them collecting dust to show for it. If it only does one thing, and you don’t do that one thing ALL THE TIME, it’s not worth it. My stick blender may mostly get used for whisking eggs, but I do that every bloody weekend…I make smores about twice a year, and guess what? I have a gas oven. I can make them right on the burner. ::sigh:: I will say though that I’ve gotten alot of use out of the little ceramic ingredient holders that came with my smores maker, as well as the smores forks.