Productopia

The day you bring home a shiny new food processor can be the best of times--or the worst of times. 

Consider the case of two fictitious customers, Audrey and Brian. Both of them have decided to buy new food processors. After consulting our report, Audrey selects the top-rated Cuisinart Prep 11 Plus DLC-2011CHB (*Est. $200), while Brian settles on the Runner-Up KitchenAid KFP750PK (*Est. $160). At first, both of them are very happy with their new kitchen tools. There's no reason not to be; both machines get very good scores for performance in professional tests, run quietly, have dishwasher-safe parts and are generally well rated by owners for ease of use. Then unexpectedly, after about a month, both machines break down. Read more

Our personal technology editor Molly McLaughlin was one of 72,000 attendees (from over 200 countries!) on the floor in Barcelona this week at the 2013 Mobile World Congress. The premier event in mobile technology, this year's MWC featured more than 1,700 companies exhibiting their latest and greatest in personal electronics.  While Molly's Twitter account showcased many of the highlights of the event during the week, the Twitterverse was chock-full of #MWC13 tweets. These are the nine that mobile-conscious consumers must-see: Read more

Roughly 73 percent of child car seats aren't installed correctly, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. There's a good reason -- car seats are complicated.

There are lots of decisions to make that can affect your child's safety in the event of a crash, including which seat to buy based on your child's age, height and weight and the best fit for your vehicle, where to put the seat, whether the seat should be rear- or forward-facing, and how to tighten the car seat properly, says Eileen McDonald, program director at the Johns Hopkins Children's Safety Center in Baltimore, Maryland. To make matters worse, 20 percent of parents wing it, neglecting to read any instructions on how to properly install their child restraints, according to a recent NHTSA survey, which interviewed 4,167 drivers at child restraint inspection stations across the country. Even those who do read the manual don't always get it right. Here are five of the most common car seat installation boo boos: Read more

Natural is a big buzzword whether it is marketing food or beauty products and nail polish is no exception. But pop your head in a nail salon and the smell can be overwhelming. How can a scent that potent be "natural?"

It can't. "A truly 'natural' nail polish does not exist on the market. The alternative nail polish formulas have been designed to reduce or eliminate the more toxic ingredients," says Jim Hammer, cosmetic chemist at Mix Solutions. Polishes without the toxic trio (Dibutyl phthalate (DBP), Toluene and Formaldehyde), also known as "three-free"; for example, are less toxic. Read more