Home > Consumer Reviews > SmartShopper Grocery List Organizer with Embedded Thermal Printer (SS-101)

I saw this on QVC and thought it was a neat idea. So I mulled over it for a couple of weeks.

I decided to order it from Amazon - something about the free shipping and cheaper price that won me over. hahahahaha

It was on backorder at the time and I was surprised when it just showed up one day.

We love it. My hubby, who is always skeptical about my gadget purchases, was surprised when he used it. He thinks it's a neat idea - and the fact that it organizes everything by category on your list automatically is simply GENIUS!!!

Press the button say the item you need to add - it shows up - select it from a list of options and it adds it to the list. When you are ready to go shopping simply press print - and it prints out the list. Easy as that.....

No more sitting at the table trying to remember what you need - just add the items to the list as you can think of them. The list stays until you delete it.

Plus it even lists errands - another added bonus. Need to run to the bank, atm, cleaners, lawyer's office...

Another plus - is that you can add your own items, or errands, if they aren't listed.

If you have problems with it recognizing your voice or speech - you can TEACH IT to understand your diction. Talk about a HOT MESS!!1

As you can tell - I LOVE THIS THING!! Best gadget I have ever bought!!

Try it - you won't be disappointed!!!!

When this thing works it's wonderful, but I have had some problems. First a note on troubleshooting problems. Don't talk TOO LOUD. I had to turn the sensitivity down on mine. This unit is so sensitive that it sometimes hears too many sounds to accurately understand what you are saying. This is the opposite of what most people would instinctively do. Most people try to talk louder if they think someone can't hear them. You may also have to mute the TV if it is too loud.
Pros(Besides the obvious):
1. It has a very strong built in magnet that allows you to put it on your refrigerator just at your speaking level, never gets lost and items stay on list until you remove them, even if you take out a battery.
Cons:
1.There are some words that it seems to refuse to recognize, no matter what you do. (i.e. I tried to add calendar to my smartshopper and no matter how many times I improved voice recognition, it would not recognize it. I even removed collander from the smartshopper so there was nothing similar. That didn't help. It kept coming up with the most rediculous suggestions to what I had said that were not even remotely similar. I finally ended up adding wall calendar instead.)
2. Again, talk softly.
3. Sometimes mine freezes up and sticks on Record Now. I can usually break this by taking a battery out and putting it back and then it works fine again.

So when it works I love this, when it doesn't I hate it. I have learned over the last couple of months to deal with its quirks, so I mostly love it.

This product really does work as advertised. The pre-loaded list of items is impressive. And it's not difficult to train the device to recognize new items. One tip: Try to speak as naturally as possible. I've noticed that if you over-enunciate, sometimes the device gets confused. Pears sounds to it like jars, for example. I think the device tends to focus on syllables, as opposed to individual letters, so talk normally to it. When my partner taught it half-and-half, he didn't try to say each word. He just said, "haf-n-haf," the way he normally would. Also, don't pre-suppose that there are individual items it doesn't know. For example, it doesn't just recognize "cheese." It knows many kinds of cheeses. The device comes with a book that lists all of the pre-programmed words, but I've found few words that it doesn't know.

Really love this thing. Saves time trying to remember all what you need to buy. I am surprised it works as well as it does. Sometimes it dosen't compute your voice right but if you have an "east coast" accent it really helps. If your "native" to south of the Mason/Dixon line I would pay to see that! Great invention. Very happy.

If I could rate this product higher, I would! It's a great item, hangs on the side of the frig, easy to use, makes my life so much easier! Only wish they had invented it 40 years ago. Better late than never ......