bit-tech Shopping: Hamilton Beach 40911 Iced Tea Maker

Rating: 10

Time with product: 1 Day

Strengths: makes great tea, and allows you to select brew strength.

Weaknesses: it's hard, if not impossible, to add sugar to make sweet tea.

Summary: It is very easy to use, all you do is add ice, water, tea bags, and press the on button. It is very easy to store in your refrigerator. It is more sturdy than some of the other reviews said. Also, the packaging is really adequate for shipping, nothing could easily break during shipping.

Rating: 10

Time with product: 2 Weeks

Strengths: Cold tea within minutes, Simple to use, Strength selector

Weaknesses: Uses a lot of ice

Summary: I rally dislike drinking plain water, but needed to somehow fit it into my diet. This is the perfect way for me to get water without gagging on the "taste" (or lack thereof). This tea maker could not be any easier to use. You simply put ice in the pitcher, water in the reservoir and tea into the top. Press the on button and wait 5 minutes. Really, it's that easy. The ONLY negative I could find is that it requires quite a bit of ice. My current fridge doesn't have an ice maker so it's a bit of a pain to get enough ice frozen. If you have an ice maker, though, then you'll have no problems at all. This tea maker is by far my favorite purchase!

Rating: 10

Time with product: 5

Strengths: Design, Shape of Pitcher, Quick Brewing Time

Weaknesses: None

Summary: Ordered this after my 2 yr old dropped my old pitcher full of ice cubes on the floor and cracked beyond repair. The Hamilton Beach design is stylish and pitcher is very convenient with it's elongated shape. Easier to fit in fridge. Love the way the filter works for adjusted strengths and also easy to clean. This machine is much quieter than the White-Westinghouse I previously owned! I think it is a great value for the price! I use this every day and love it!!

Rating: 8

Time with product: 1 Week

Strengths: PITCHER SHAPE & DESIGN; NO FILTER NEEDED; ICED TEA CAN BE POURED & STORED WITHOUT REMOVING TEA BAGS

Weaknesses: PITCHER CAP NEEDED TO BE MANUVERED TILL IT WILL LOCK

Summary: THIS IS THIRD ICED TEA MAKER I'VE OWNED & IT IS THE EASIEST TO USE SO FAR. WEAK POINT OF OTHERS (SALTON & MR COFFEE) SEEMED TO BE THE PITCHER AS IT WAS CHEAPER TO REPLACE ENTIRE UNIT (ON SALE) THAN JUST THE PITCHER. TIME WILL TELL ON THIS UNIT.

Rating: 10

Time with product: 7 Weeks

Strengths: Brew strength selector, compact pitcher designed to fit in the side door of most refrigerators

Weaknesses: None

Summary: I bought this as a gift for my mother-in-law who is pretty finicky about her tea, whether it be hot or cold, so I was a little apprehensive about my gift selection. What a hit. She absolutely loves the tea from this iced tea maker and has no problem using it, making it very user friendly. At 89 she won't bother messing with anything if it's too complicated. You put your tea bags in, fill it with water, add ice and it brews into the compact pitcher which is made to store in the side door of most refrigerators. I can see why this was rated a Best Buy. Highly recommend, nothing negative about this product.