SmartShopper Voice-Recognition Grocery-List Organizer

I so badly needed this device to work (to arrange the categories for shopping) but it did not. I bought it because reviews were mixed and some said it worked great. Well, take the simplest example: eggs. I said eggs clearly 5 times (it said 'no such item' 4 times) then brings up a list of possible items I am then supposed to select from, and eggs is one of them. It all takes way more time than wriitng it down. This went on for every food item i spoke and i do not have an accent. Very frustrating and time consuming! had to return it sadly, but the vendor was great and provided a full refund. This gadget is worse than my car audio navigational, which is bad. They just don't have voice recognition down yet.

Very good concept. Has nice magnetic mounting to attach to metal surface in kitchen. Has large preloaded list of items. You can add your own items to listor edit. You have a "Voice Recognition Update" whereby you can "Try" to get the machine to recognize your voice better. However - you have to learn to speak"The same language" as the machine. It's voice recognition is very, very specific and even the voice recognition update doesn't help a lot. My wife has prettymuch given up on the machine. I think I am getting the hang of it and the machine and I are starting to communicate better. It is as if the machine getsfrustrated trying to understand what you are saying and the harder you try the less it recognizes. If you don't succeed in two or three tries, give up for awhilebecause it will not recognize anything. Don't think it was worth the $60 something we paid for.

I would give the device five stars except that it takes a lot of power to run the small printer so that batteries have to be changed frequently, and they're expensive (heavy duty alkalines). Currently, with two of us using it twice per week with relatively short shopping lists it will indicate "low batteries" in three weeks and start printing slowly with very light print. A good battery tester will show that the batteries are not even at the low level. SmartShopper's customer service is excellent and responsive, but not to the battery situation. It will not work with rechargeables as the voltage is too low at the fully-charged level. I have suggested that they rework the circuitry to allow lower voltage, but seemingly it falls on deaf ears. A suggestion for the future would be to allow it to be connected to the computer to input user additions; the current method of doing it directly into the SmartShopper is a little archaic and time consuming. It's a very good device, but I hope the company is reading this and will make the necessary changes.

I read several negative reviews about the predecessors to the Smart Shopper SS-301, and I was reluctant to purchase this one ... but then I figured that maybe "the 3rd time's the charm" and I was right. It is a great tool and remembers everything we've said to it, even when we don't. The list of items is always visible on the screen, we can add stuff as we think of it, and it wouldn't budge from the refrigerator door if the sky fell in. We've had no trouble with it recognizing items in my voice or my husband's. It has a huge list of items already programmed into its memory, and if we want a specific item by brand, we just add it to the library with a few key strokes. We shop a lot at Costco and the local supermarket as well, and it maintains a separate list for each. I actually bought it for my husband at Christmas since he shops more frequently, but I wasn't sure he'd use it ... but he does, all the time ... and if it didn't work properly, he wouldn't spend 5 minutes with it. Whatever the manufacturer did to improve upon the previous Smart Shoppers, they did it very well. I would recommend this to anyone who prefers a readable, organized list to work from, rather than a few scribbles on a scrap of paper or a less than pefect memory.

This is one of my very favorite luxury products. I never could find a pencil to write down something that I needed from the store. I would just try to remember and when I'd get to the store I'd wind up coming home without some things that I needed. But with the smart shopper, anytime I think of something I need I just go over to the refrigerator and put in the product. When I'm ready to go shopping I print the list and take it with me. It's just amazing!

I use this device to keep track of what I need to purchase at the grocery store. It's kind of neat to print out a list and take it with you. There is also another list available for daily errands that can be printed out. You can customize the items in memory, and add categories, as needed. The only issue I have with this third generation model is the print quality. The device uses thermal printing, so there is no ink cartridge to replace. But the paper roll used must be thermal paper of a particular size, which is still readily available, even though SmartShopper is no longer in business. Unfortunately, the print quality is marginal at best.

I love this product. I waited and watched trying to convince myself that it was not a gimmick and would really be helpful. "Why did I wait so long?" is my response now. My husband and I use it every time we go shopping...it helps us to get in and out the door - fast, easy, simple. The voice recognition is as easy as talking to a friend. My sister was jealous when she saw it....she doesn't know I am getting her one for Christmas. Loooove it!

This little gem has solved a big problem for me. I suffer from Fibromyalgia and have arthritis in my hands. My husband can do the grocery shopping, but he can't read my writing. Once we get all of the items we buy regularly loaded in, grocery day will be much more pleasant. It is really convenient to have it on the side of the refrigerator and be able to grab it whenever we use the last of a product. On the other hand, my husband has a little problem reading the list without his glasses, a small problem. The important thing to remember is to speak the words in a normal tone. It is tempting to speak slowly and precisely. That doesn't work.