NOV. 23, 2012
A17
THE COAST NEWS
Top 10 electronics: Performance and innovation Use croissants to make French Toast While Consumer Reports recently tested more than 600 smartphones, tablets, TVs and mor e, only 10 standout pr oducts made the short list for performance and innovation. The products from the list are: — Groundbreaking tablet: Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (16GB, $500). The 10inch Galaxy Note ad ds capabilities that no other ta blet, not even the Apple iPad, currently offers. An excellent performer overall, it almost matches the superb batter y life of the iP ad and ad ds a memory card slot that its rival lacks. — Apple’s best phone yet: iPhone 5 (16GB, $200). The iPhone 5 builds on its predecessors’ strengths and adds new features, putting it head and shoulder s above previous iPhones. It has a bigger screen with e xcellent sharpness, a thinner pr ofile, 4G access and an e xpanded role for Siri, the super voice assistant. Also, it’s the best phone camera Consumer Reports’ testers have seen yet. Requires a two-year contract. — Android champion: Samsung Galaxy S III (16GB, $100 to $200 with tw o-year contract). If any phone deserves to be dub bed an iPhone 5 killer , this is it.
The Panasonic Viera TC-P55VT50 costs a bundle, but this 55-inch plasma is one of the best TVs Consumer Reports has ever tested. Photo courtesy of Consumer Reports
Flaunting an excellent screen that’s bigger (at 4.8 inc hes) than the iPhone 5’ s, this Android model offer s some features you can’t get on Apple’s phone.You can watch a video while doing other tasks on the desktop , for example, and the scr een is smart enough not to time out when you’re looking at it. — Tip-top TV: Panasonic Viera TC-P55VT50 ($2,500). OK, it costs a bundle, but this 55-inch plasma is one of the best TVs Consumer Reports has ever tested. Deep, rich blacks and spot-on colors contribute to superb pictur e quality, and it has an unlimited viewing angle, plus very good 3D perf ormance and sound.
— The Fire gets hotter: Amazon Kindle F ire HD (7inch, 16 GB, from $210 with charger). Amazon’s top-ofthe-line 7-inch tablet is one of the best for the price (though the new Barnes & Noble Nook tablets that just came out promise stiff competition).Videos look great on the HD display, and the screen is readable even in bright light. — The world’s smartest camera: Nikon Coolpix S800c ($350).This 16-megapixel,WiFi-enabled point-and-shoot camera is the fir st that Consumer Reports has seen that runs Goo gle’s Android operating system and the apps that go with it. The apps enable users to edit an image, quickly and easily post it on
Facebook, and create a slideshow with music. — Loaded lightw eight: Sony Cyber-shot RX100 ($650). You don’t have to lug around a big, heavy camera to get g reat photos. This 20megapixel point-and-shoot weighs about 9 ounces — half as much as man y models of this type — but doesn’ t cut corners. — Excellence in a bo x: Samsung HT-E6730W ($800). This 7.1-channel system marries old-school vacuum tubes with digital amps to pr oduce excellent sound, which is rare in Consumer Reports’ tests of home-theater-in-a-box systems. It comes with a 3D-capable Blu-ray player, wireless amplifiers for the r ear surround speakers, Wi-Fi, an iPod dock and Samsung’ s Smart TV platform. — First ultrawide TV: Vizio CinemaWide XVT3D580CM ($1,530). Cinephiles finally have a TV that displays flicks in all their wide-screen splendor.This 58inch LED set is the fir st Consumer Reports has tested with an ultr awide, 21:9 display that mimics the shape of a movie theater screen. — Wi-Fi winner: Sonos Play:3 ($300). This compact stereo speaker system is a great, easy way to enjo y music throughout the house. Pair it with the Sonos Bridge adapter and you can wirelessly access str eaming Internet radio stations and music from a computer that’s on your WiFi network.
SARA NOEL Frugal Living Dear Sara: What kind of food would you serve with croissants? — Linda B., email Dear Linda: I absolutely love chicken salad with sliced cucumber on cr oissants. My kids eat them plain or with soup . I like them used for most sand wiches, such as g rilled ham and cheese or a bacon, egg and cheese breakfast sandwich, but they work well for cold sandwiches, too. You can stuff them with sweet ingredients, such as c hocolate, fruit (fresh, spreads or pie filling) and/or custar d, too. They’re quite delicious when used to mak e French toast:
Strawberry Cheesecake French Toast
1 8-ounce carton ricotta cheese 3 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar 1 teaspoon v anilla extract 8 croissants
2 eggs 1 cup milk 2 cups sliced fr esh strawberries additional confectioner’s sugar or maple syrup hot, cooked sausage links (optional) Cut croissants in half . In a small bo wl, combine ricotta, sugar and v anilla; mix well. Spread 2 ta blespoons each on eight slices of croissants and cover with remaining croissant halves. In a bo wl, beat eggs and milk; soak sand wiches for 1 to 2 min utes per side. Cook on a hot greased griddle for 5 min utes on eac h side or until golden br own and heated through. Serve with str awberries.Top with confectioner’s sugar or syrup . Serve with sausage. Makes 4 servings. Dear Sara: Can you mix Dawn and bleac h? — Tina, Ohio Dear Tina: Don’t mix dish soap with bleac h. The bottle of Dawn even states not to mix it with bleach. Sara Noel is the owner of Frugal Village (www.frugalvillage.com), a website that offers practical, moneysaving strategies for everyday living. To send tips, comments or questions, write to Sara Noel, c/o Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut Street, Kansas City, MO, 64106, or e-mail sara@frugalvillage.com.