Steam Fast SF-680 Digital Fabric Steam Press Review

Well, after two months of waiting, my 680 arrived. It was my Christmas present to myself. What had happened was the manufacturer didn't make enough of them last year. Demand far exceeded (incongruously) supply. That is why amazon, cyebye, smallappliances.com, and others had you on hold. I actually sent Top Innovations a griping email about the delays--this is how I found out what the situation was. By the way, Customer Service at TI is nothing less than outstanding! The first sentence from their department was this: "You are right. We need to do a better job of...." Imagine that. A company that still lives by the age old American adage--'the customer is always right.'
Oh, if you're looking for the best price on the product--it's Cyebye--providing you don't live in NY (otherwise, you'll pay the tax). $219.00. And, that company's Customer Service is also pleasant to deal with. That's why I stuck with them (well, okay... more for the price than anything else).
After tearing into my box like a lil' boy getting a birthday gift (mine is March 8th, case you want to send me something), I couldn't get the machine working fast enough. Design-wise, it's both sleek and very pleasing to the eye. Doesn't weigh too much and is easily portable.
Now the cons.
First thing I noticed was the tremendous jolting upswing the unit has when you elevate the top plate from the ironing board. It jerks the unit UP and BACK! You need to be cognizant of this. If you place this unit on the TI steamer stand, make certain you always keep one foot on the stand's base. Otherwise, the machine will dive backwards. That's how much upward force we're talking about here.
Next is the irritating shutoff safety feature. On "top line" models, these features should not be installed--or, at least have them as a programmable option. If you leave the machine unattended for about 8-10 mins, it will go into "standby" mode. Meaning, the heating temperature that you waited at least 10 minutes for it to build up will vanish. And, reactivation isn't as simple as just using the machine. You either have to turn it off then back on, or, scroll through the power temperature settings. Did I mention this was annoying?
Thirdly, not enough pressing power for thinner garments. I steam pressed two Italian cotton shirts and I was expecting extremely crisp presses. It does that for the sleeves (which is, of course, 2 materials thick), but, you will not get that same effect for the back or front of the shirt. The solution, place a thick towel over the board--place your thin shirt on that. Also note that thinner materials will acquire what I call "hole puffs" in them. The steaming plate has holes from where the steam exudes. Your thinner materials will periodically have those hole indentations on them. Rub them with your finger and they vanish.
This may or may not be a con. But, when it comes to the steam burst operation... it's LOUD. It gurgles and also spews water droplets as well. {Note that the feature advertisement on this site reads, "Dual vaporizing system significantly reduces water droplets". I wonder how TI defines "reduces".) Meaning, KEEP YOUR FACE AWAY FROM THE UNIT when activating the steam burst.
Another con deals with the instructions. Though simply annotated, it always stumps me when the writers/editors decide to use metric measurements (all of a suddenly) when the rest of the manual pertains to non-metric numbers. The section I'm talking about pertains to the steam burst mode. It states to lower the press no lower than 75mm from the board. 75mm? I don't mind the metric system because I'm fluent with it. But most Americans are not. (75mm is about 3 inches, by the way.)
Another con pertains to the display panel. The manual states that when the light deactivates (at the particular heat setting you're at--e.g., cotton, silk, etc.), then the machine is ready for use. Well, I just spent 90 minutes pressing nothing but cotton. And, if I adhered to what it states in the manual, that 90 minutes would have easily evolved into 120 minutes! That cotton indicator light is consistently going on, than it is remaining off. I would almost venture to state that it spends more time on the former rather than the latter.
The final con is the warranty. One measly year! That disappoints me tremendously. When you fork out more than $200 for a machine, 3 year warranty should be the minimum. Especially... ESPECIALLY with a digital product-which is what this is. One year warranty is insulting and doesn't speak well for TI (in my humble opinion).
Other than that... there are indeed ample pros for this machine. Compared to ironing or steaming, this press wins hands down. It's 3-4 times swifter than ironing because of 3 elements: large surface area of the machine, the tremendous heat, and, the steam burst function (remember to keep your face away from the 680 when using steam burst). The machine also appears easy to maintain and clean. The manual states to use distilled water. You probably should do as it states--because I'm certain the heating coil and other components are quite delicate inside. Non-distilled water usually equates to faster corrosion development--depending on your state of residency (drinking water). Florida, which is definitely a "hard water" town, definitely purchase distilled.
If I think of anything else, I'll come back and annotate. In the interim, the machine does what it says it'll do. But, I don't think it's the best one (home user models) out there. I could be wrong. I will keep this model, nonetheless.
Hope this helps....

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Product Description:
How about an iron and ironing board all in one?That's right, replace your handheld iron and your ironing board with the Digital Fabric Steam Press, the easiest way to remove fabric wrinkles.The Digital Fabric Steam Press quickly removes wrinkles without damaging fabrics with a molded heating element that creates even temperature distribution for more effective and efficient pressing.A non-stick Teflon pressing surface that is 9 times larger than most conventional irons insures a time savings for you.A precision digital panel allows you to control multiple dry and steam settings, and material and temperature adjustments.For exceptionally stubborn wrinkles, a steam burst function is included.You simply lay the fabric on the pressing surface, select your steam setting, and pull the top (pressing cover) down to meet the bottom(pressing plate).It's that simple!You get that professionally creased look without a trip to the dry cleaners and without the use harsh chemicals. The stainless steel construction means the SF-680 will remain rust-free and outlast most of the fabrics that you press.The pressing plate locking knob allows you to lock the top to the bottom for portability and ease in storing.An auto shut-off feature keeps children and animals safe from harm.So reduce your ironing time up to 50% with this two-in-one offer!

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