BLACK+DECKER 4-Slice Toaster, Traditional Square, Black with Stainless Steel Accents, TR1400SB

As a family of 5, when we need to toast something, we are toasting a lot of it. We had a 20 year old Betty Crocker Toaster that finally bit it when it lost all of its knobs - so I turned to my handy amazon to check the reviews for a replacement. Going over the available toasters, not a lot had decent reviews. The digital ones appeared to be the worst. As for the rest, many could not be used for successive toasting without overheating or shorting out. Many died within a short period of use. In fact, I found several references on line that "one should not expect a toasted to last more that 1-3 years. I don't find that acceptable. I bought this Black and Decker because it was simple. It apeared that there were less bells and whistles on it to break. I am glad for my decision. It is a great stury toaster. The exterior doesn't get hot - so it is safe for my children to use. It has a normal browning knob and additional settings for bagels/frozen items/etc. The cord is retractable. I'm not usually a fan of retractable cords - they usually break, so I will update this review if that happens. This browns toast evenly and to the degree which I prefer on 4, so there is plenty of room on either side of that to toast things to your preference level. I've only burnt one thing in it so far - an impressive record for me! My oldest children eat a lot of bagels and they enjoy using this toaster. It is simple and well made. Black & Decker usually makes a good product and this is no exception. I would heartily recommend it to anyone. For it's price point, I don't think you could find a better toaster. Edited July2016: starting to die . The mechanism in the retractable cord has loosened a wire connection and we now have to wiggle the connection quite a bit to get it to work. Some days no amount of wiggling will help-- so it is time to replace

I read way too much about toasters and got Toaster Overload. I did not want an overpriced and over complicated toaster that was endeavoring to be a work of art. What I wanted was a good, solid functioning toaster that did not break the bank. After all, it is just a toaster. I refuse to spend $100 (or close) on a toaster. I just reject that on principle. For me, form follows function. This one fits the bill. It is easily wide enough for bagels and toasts everything well. The bagel button works well, as do the toasting dials, but as with all analog controls, you have to figure it out before you get it set the way you want it. I can now nail all of my toast-able items perfectly. It's not rocket science, you'll figure it out. Toasting is uniform in my experience. Others have stated that it is a little on the slow side. OK, maybe it is a little bit slower, but it toasts uniformly, so who cares? I don't plan on entering it in the toaster Olympics. It is maybe a touch slower than my old one, but that one did not toast uniformly. Put it this way; maybe it is slower, maybe not. I never timed the old one and I don't know what "average toast time" is. I'm thinking about it, so maybe it is just in my head. "A watched pot never boils..." Whatever the case, it is NOT excessively slow, and neither I nor my family have ever said, "What's taking so long?" Controls: The primary controls work well. To me, these are the dials. They are very precise in my opinion, once you figure it out. The down button is a touch finicky to lock, but again, it is not rocket science. Just press it fairly firm. The bagel button works very well. I add about ".5" on the dial for a bagel for my preference, but that is just how I like it. I have not used the Reheat or Frozen buttons yet. One thing that should be noted: The first toaster I received was damaged during shipping. The padding is a little on the light side, and one side on two slots (same side, the left side of the first two slots on the left) did not toast. I know I read at least one other review that mentioned this. However, Amazon customer service being excellent (IMO), they shipped a replacement immediately, and the second one works perfectly. This toaster does it all very well in my experience and I feel that I did not have to overpay. Two thumbs and big toes up.

The toaster reviews on this site are pretty funny. I, like so many others on the site, love toast and am overwhelmed by/obsessed with finding the perfect toaster, & read through zillions of reviews before buying this one, & still felt bewildered. We put a man on the moon 50 years ago, how have we not yet figured out how to make a decent toaster? I had tried an expensive model previously and it was a dud; one of the heating elements stopped working soon after I bought it & the company had a terrible return policy. So this time around, decided to go for something cheaper & am glad I did. Pros: Fast and quite even, not perfect but very good. I'd give it an A-. Retractable cord is a nice feature, & of course the price is great. Cons: Slots are too small for large slices of bread, which you must turn a few times in order to toast the whole thing. I toast 'artisan' bread almost every day and I'm resigned to having to do this unless I want to spend $200 on a toaster with longer, deeper slots. The elements are hot (hence the fast toasting) and so this works better anyway, to monitor doneness. The 'stop toasting' button works fine but is kind of abrupt. Not the most transcendent toaster in the world, the cheapness comes through in the look & feel, but it gets the job done quite well, and (see above re: $200 toasters). I would definitely buy it again, or one in this price range, as I could get 4 of these for the price of the other one I bought.

Our old toaster was burning out so we grabbed this on amazon due to all the positive reviews. It works as advertised. I LOVE the retractable cord since we keep this in a cupboard when not in use. So we just pull the cable, let it pull in, and put it in the cupboard without having to stuff the cord up there with it. I also like the cancel button you can press to immediately stop toasting and pop up the bread and the fact that the crub tray pulls out. Other toasters we have had have crumb trays that are loose and have fallen out creating a huge mess. It toasts the bread evenly on both sides and it looks nice. I should mention that the chrome trim will show fingerprints if you care about things like that. We often have this out of site when not in use so it's not a big deal to me.

Edit: it is now completely useless. After less than 2 years, it no longer stays down on either side. Do not purchase this toaster unless you would like a side of disappointment. NARRATIVE: This toaster was purchased to replace a 2 slice toaster to give me the extra capacity I need when I am cooking breakfast. My biggest issue with this toaster, and why it only received a one-star rating, is that the right hand side does not stay down. I can hold it down and it will toast, or if I press it in just right it will stay down temporarily (but only until the left hand side pops up, and shakes the right hand side up at the same time.) It's really not usable as a 4 slice toaster. I would have sent it back immediately, but unfortunately I recycled all the packaging before testing it out. It does a great job toasting. My toast was never burnt, and my bagels came out nicely done. I like that it has a numbered dial to give better control over the toasting. PROS: This toaster looks nice sitting on my counter with all of the stainless steel appliances in the kitchen. It makes a nice toast, without burning it. CONS: This toaster doesn't work after 2 years of use about twice a week. TL;DR: Toaster works well when it worked, but doesn't last. I would not recommend this toaster.

SUMMARY: I wish I was reviewer 700, that sounds luckier somehow. Or 777. But I'm #697. I guess I won't buy a lottery ticket today. This is a decent toaster and reasonably priced. Drum-roll....it toasts bread close to evenly on both sides. At least mine does. For $35. And it doesn't look too weird on the counter. I'm not crazy about the black but its "ok". Wish it was just stainless steel or brushed aluminum all over. PROS - IT TOASTED EVENLY when toasting 4 slices. When toasting only 1 slice, I noticed it was not quite even. - Retractable cord - nice idea. - Simple controls - Front access crumb trays - It was $35...that's pretty cheap (but about right for a dang toaster...$180 models make me go pffffft.) - 2 year limited warranty. So if it dies before 7/17/2016, I can call 1-800-231-9786 and tell them to send me a new one! (yes, this is my journal as well as my review. I'll even have my receipt since it's on Amazon orders page.) CONS - Mine wobbled when placed on a flat granite counter. I checked the counter with a precision straightedge, its the toaster. I messed with the feet on the bottom but couldn't improve it. Then I hung the toaster half over the edge of the counter, half on, at a diagonal and pushed down hard. It's a little better now, almost level. I can live with it but almost sent it back. But the damn thing toasted the bread evenly, a quest I have been on for 2 years so I kept it. - The two sides don't toast the same on the same setting. I set both to 4 (mid point) and toasted 4 slices. Left side 2 slices were underdone, right side 2 slices were near perfect. Ok so I'll set one on 5 and one on 7 and I'll try again. - Slots are wide enough but kind of short at 5 1/2 inches long. They work fine for "standard" square sandwich bread. And my usual wider bread just fits. But I know some specialty loaves are going to be a little too long. - On the bottom, there are 4 "feet". Two are holes with a rubber plug that goes in. Two are just hard molded plastic. Why? Why not use the rubber feet all around? I've seen other appliances with this approach, and I don't get it at all. Just put 4 rubber feet on (spongy, no slide) or make them all hard plastic (slides easy). This approach doesn't give the best of both worlds. NOT SURE - at first I thought the slots were too deep -- when the toast is done and pops, the top of the bread is still down in the slot - and I don't want to reach in there. Then I discovered this is MADE to lift the knobs on the front and will lift the toast about 2". Well, that works but why not just make it pop up higher? Pro? Con? Not sure. BACKGROUND (FOR THOSE WHO LIKE TO READ) It's a toaster. How hard can that be? Well...I'm 0 for 4 over the past 2 years on toasters. On the theory that China pumps these out with poor quality control and you have a 50% chance of getting one that works, I decided to try one more time with the cheap ones before moving on to one of the $180 specials to see if that could tackle the apparently impossible tasks of toasting my bread evenly and working for more than 6 months. This model had decent looking reviews, it's a 4 slice toaster wide enough for bagels and doesn't look too weird. Not crazy about the black but...ok...so...overnight shipped it and wala...toaster arrived. It works better than the $60 Kitchen Aid and Cuisinart models I've had, better than the $20 Bed Bath and Beyond no name, and better the Oster I bought at Lowe's for about $30. Of course that is $170 in toasters over the past couple years...plus this one at $35 + $6 overnight shipping. So if this one dies...maybe I'll bite the bullet and buy a $500 commercial toaster or a $180 "gourmet consumer" model. Or not. Conclusion, decent toaster for $35...not perfect but does toast pretty well and that's its function. I'm more or less satisfied. 3 stars. If it didn't wobble and the sides toasted the same, then it would be 4, and if it always toasted evenly on both sides it would be 6. I orginally gave 4 stars, then downgraded to 3 when started toasting unevenly on day 2.

Heaven is real, and it's a toaster you can share with your boyfriend. This has sped up my mornings TREMENDOUSLY and introduced a range of mid-day pick-me-ups that previously would've taken too much hassle. Living with my boyfriend and working from home, we often want a quick meal mid-day, rather than spending all that time making a big production. You know what's easy? Slicing a big, tasty bagel from Panera in half and toasting it; one for each of us! The time saved is a gift unto itself; if you're toasting for 2 or more, cutting out a few minutes of toasting time really adds up, and it pays for itself quickly! It also has very large slots, so you can toast plenty of things that a conventional toaster might have issues with. Our choice bagels (Asiago, courtesy of Panera Bread) didn't fit well in our old, cheap toaster; with the Black & Decker's big slots, bagels are a breeze! Meanwhile, the dial works great, and the range is appreciable; no more guess-work, no more "set it to max for 2 minutes, then pop it down, then turn it down and put it back in..." baloney you get with an older, or cheaper toaster. Put it in, learn your numbers for your breads (or be lazy like me and just stick with whatever you like first), and you're in business! This is truly worth the price tag for 2 (or more); I mean, do you like standing around waiting to toast the next batch? Do you know how much time you're wasting?! Are you burning things unnecessarily not paying attention? Do you hate cramming your bagels in tighter slots? Stop fooling around and get a good toaster! Specifically - get this one!

So I needed to buy a new toaster. After reading a kizillion reviews I decided that buying a new toaster was like a box of chocolates---you never know what you are going to get. Then I read one review that said something like, this is not a major purchase. It's not like buying a new car. Don't overthink it and don't waste a lot of time trying to decide. So I opted for the Black & Decker TR1400SB 4 slice stainless steel toaster because I have a Black & Decker coffee pot that has served me very well for the past three years. Ding-dong, toaster has arrived. I unpacked it and put it on my kitchen counter and I must say that it fit right in with the kitchen decor and it didn't take up a lot of space. I read the directions before using ( I strongly suggest that reading the directions first is worth the time spent) and then surprise surprise. The first time I used it my toast came out perfect, just the way I like it on setting 4 (use setting 7 or 8 for darker toast).I have no comments about burnt toast because I hate burnt toast and never gave that setting a shot. Then I got adventurous and tried a bagel. Shazam!!! Perfect again. Finally I went for the gold ring and tried a frozen waffle. Bingo, bango, bongo. Perfect again. I have been using the toaster for about six weeks and all I can say is that it works extremely well for me. Who cares if the toaster doesn't have a timer? I am pleasantly surprised because some of the reviews for this appliance were not very flattering. Like a box of chocolates---you never know what you are going to get. Toasty happy in Pittsburgh

...aber mehr auch nicht! Fairerweise muss ich dazu schreiben, dass wir diesen Toaster ausgepackt und kein Toast damit getoastet haben. Was nicht in der Beschreibung zu finden war, dass das Gerät nicht 220V tauglich ist. Somit ging der Toaster wieder zurück.

No instructions about a step down converter. It blew up the moment we plugged it in with a simple adaptor for a flat pin plug...