Sound Advice
By Don Lindich
Week 10, 2022
This week’s column features useful reader feedback about recent topics and a great kitchen gadget.
Q. I recently read your column about the Ryobi inflator and the higher prices in different areas of the country. I had the same experience with the Ryobi inflator at my local Home Depot. I ended up buying one on eBay for $21.99, brand new with free shipping.
What I found interesting is that it was shipped to me from a Home Depot in Ohio, as you can see from the attached screenshot of the FedEx notification.
-C.H., Minneapolis, MN
A. Thank you for this great tip! After receiving your email I searched on eBay for “Ryobi inflator” and found it available from multiple vendors for prices between $23.65 and $29.99, all with free shipping. Some of the eBay advertisers had sold a prodigious amount of inflators. As of Tuesday, March 8th, 2022, one vendor in Luckey, Ohio listed 3,332 sold, a seller in McDonough, Georgia listed 2,129 sold, and three others displayed 670, 337 and 132 sold. That comes out to a nice, round 6,600 inflators sold on eBay alone. This all may be enlightening to readers who sometimes find that something I have written about has sold out, at least temporarily. Word about a good product and a good deal travels fast and can lead to sellouts and shortages, especially since supply chains are still catching up.
Anyone looking for a Ryobi cordless inflator, if you don’t like the pricing at your local Home Depot I suggest you go to eBay and get one there.
Q. I read your column regarding the Bose Wave Radio CD player problem. I had the same issue with CDs skipping and gave Bose a call. I was very surprised to find they offer a repair/refurbish option for only $132. All I had to do was send the unit back to them with their pre-paid UPS label and pay the charge up front on a credit card. I received emails from them with the status and within three weeks received my unit back, fully refurbished. They replaced the CD drive, harness, capacitor and housing. It now works fine and I hope to get many more years out of it.
-J.W., Atlantic City, NJ
A. Thank you very much for passing this along. The reader who sent the original question was having trouble with the 3 CD changer attachment, not the main drive, and I provided him a solution in case the main drive goes as well. A repair/refurbish for $132 is a great option, and hats off to Bose for servicing what they sell. Not everyone does that these days!
A better vacuum sealer: Last year I recounted my positive experience with a Cromify vacuum sealer and recently tested an upgraded model. The Cromify E-9000M has 8 functions with multiple modes and has settings for both moist and dry foods, as well as for canisters and wine bottles. It provides two levels of suction, one of which creates the vacuum at a slower pace so crumbly food does not come apart.
The shell is also heavier and more substantially more rugged. I have really enjoyed using my sealers, allowing me to better store food in the freezer (no frostbite) and keeping it fresher longer. There is no going back to zipper bags once you experience the difference from vacuum sealing.
The E-9000M sells for $49.98 on Amazon, only $10 more than the Cromify machine I wrote about last year. Given the generous number of vacuum sealing bags that are included it strikes me as an even better value.