Who has time to write things down on a pad of paper anymore?! When I need to add something to my grocery list I prefer to walk downstairs to the kitchen, rummage around in the junk drawer for my SmartShopper device, make sure it has fresh batteries, turn it on, press the record button, say “Apples,” say “Apples” again because it thought I said “Mantles,” and then make sure to remember to print out my list before I leave for the store.
The SmartShopper is an automated grocery list assistant that costs $149.99 and requires four, AA batteries. It can be mounted on your wall and it comes with three rolls of thermal paper (similar to receipt paper). You print out your list, which is categorized by grocery department, and save yourself up to 15 minutes at the store according to a testimonial on the SmartShopper Web page.
SmartShopper faces stiff competition from OfficeMax, who sells the Cambridge 6" x 9" Yellow Steno Book for approximately $147 less. It features extra-smooth heavyweight bond paper, a durable protective cover, 140 sheets of legal ruled paper, and a stiff back for easier writing. It doesn’t require any batteries or talking, but you will have to organize your list by grocery department manually.
You save “up to” 15 minutes at the store but probably spend 37 minutes at home programming that darn thing that looks like it came straight out of 1987 after having sex with a TI 31 calculator.
This is actually a pretty cool device. Just like all gadgets, it is not for everyone. I not only have one, but my wife and I enjoy using it.
It sticks on our Refrigerator door and when we need to add something to the list, we simply hit the record button, tell it what we want and voila…we walk away.
When it’s time to shop, we print out the list and that spice that I ran out of two weeks ago, is suddenly on the list.
It helps me to remember all of my grocery list.
Again, like all gadgets this is not for everyone…I don’t like to use those things they call Playstation games…too many combinations to remember, but this little device was easy to use and I would recommend it to anyone.