680 Cordless Electric Glass Kettle

This was a "going off to college" purchase I made for my 17 y.o. son. I looked at dozens of electric kettles, read lots of reviews, checked out Consumer Reports, etc., and ultimately decided this had the best combination of features at a good price. It has worked out really well, too, I am happy to report. It has actually worked SO well that there are now 5 other guys on my son's floor in the dorm who have acquired the exact same model! Here's what is good about this kettle: it heats up super fast. It will boil a full carafe of water in about 2-1/2 minutes - a full, rolling boil. This is faster than my 1300 watt microwave oven! From that point, he can make tea, cocoa, french press coffee, instant noodles, ramen, etc. really easily. He even uses the kettle to start water for cooking pasta, etc. on the stove in the dorm kitchen, since it takes forever to boil water on the burners. The kettle has an automatic shut off. There is no way for it to boil dry[ there's no chance he could leave it on and cause a problem. (YAY!) The glass carafe means you can see exactly what's happening without opening the top, which substantially lessens the likelihood of steam-related burns. It also increases the likelihood that the kettle will be CLEANED frequently enough to keep hard water rime from building up, since the glass shows any build up right away. The ONLY thing I wish were different on this kettle is the cord. It is quite short, so the base must be placed very near an outlet. The carafe lifts off the base completely to pour, fill, etc., so that part is not a big issue, but given the placement of outlets in dorm rooms built in the 1940s, a 2' cord is a challenge! It's not an insurmountable problem; it's just something that could be better. Overall, this is a great small appliance that makes dorm life much nicer, and has made the microwave entirely unnecessary for my son and his roommate. They actually sent the roommate's microwave back home - This does what they need, and they decided they'd rather have the shelf space.