Customer Reviews

T-Fal 532840 Avante Deluxe 4-Slice Toaster, Black/Chrome

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(17)
1 star:		(27)

 

 

I Love this toaster. I know that sounds strong, but in the past three years, I've had seven toasters, and none of them worked right. I had forgotten that toast was supposed to be crispy. I've tried every brand of toaster that there is, and this is definitely the best.

We wanted to love this toaster. Looks great, cool design, nice features, matches our black and stainless appliances. But, given the decidely hot and cold reviews here, we decided to buy one at a local store rather than risk having to pay to ship it back. Good choice, it turns out.
We had the same experience of all the other negative reviewers here: Horribly unevenly toasted bread, the result of only about 60 percent of the thin heating elements actually heating up -- or at least appearing to heat up, in contrast with all the others. Result: French bread totally black on top, soft and white on the bottom, and somewhere in between on the other side.
Given the frequency of this problem documented here and elsewhere, this must be either a serious design flaw, or the company has very inept quality control. No excuse for a toaster in this price range.
Also, the slots also are not long enough to accommodate wide slices of bread, such as french bread, sourdough or other non-square varieties. Maybe not a big deal if you don't use those.
We exchanged it for another brand, similar price, with two extra-long slots and similar features (all of the settings of this toaster, plus a "defrost" cycle.) Far, far superior performance. :) Just a glance at the inside of the other toaster -- at its beefier, more secure, and more numerous heating elements, suggested it was a better value. And guess what? It actually makes edible toast! Steer clear of this one, unless you're feeling lucky.

I recently bought this as a replacement for one damaged in a fire by smoke and soot. I was pleased to find that this particular model was not only very attractive and a nice addition to the remodeled kitchen, but also quite versatile and functional as well. That said, this is a quite modern toaster large enough to meet your breakfast needs, even with a number of people around the table. It has extra-wide slots that will accommodate bagels, muffins, waffles, pastries, and thick bread. Its four slots have two independently operated sets, with each set of two slots having its own browning controls.

It has a number of other features, as well. Each set has a stop/eject button, and the left set has buttons to defrost items such as frozen bread or bagels, and to then reheat those items previously toasted but now cold. Each set has what is referrd to as a "high-lift" lever, which facilitates removal of small items, and a removable crumb tray. The toaster itself is lightweight and is deftly carried by an inset handle in the back of the unit. It easily wipes cleans with a cloth. All in all, we are quite happy with it, anbd would highly recommend it. Enjoy!

Toaster is as advertised. Only complaint I have is the cord being so short, but that is apparently due to some government regulation so I cannot fault the manufacturer.

Read the directions when you receive it because they recommend putting it through one toast cycle in order to 'break in' the heating elements. Toaster generates a significant amount of heat so make sure you have plenty of free space above where you plan to place it in your kitchen. My cabinet is about 18 inches above the toaster and you can feel that it gets very warm during a toasting, so be safe.

Excellent toaster, and it looks great! Well designed.

Good looking toaster, nice features, but it has a cheap feel overall. The handles are loose-feeling and the whole thing gives the impression of not wanting to be overworked.

Six weeks after purchasing this toaster, the left side stopped working entirely.

The company's customer service couldn't have been worse, as they seem to have deliberately hidden any ways to call a human being at T-Fal. Upon reaching a representative (finally) I was told that I would have to send the toaster to them (at my expense) and that they would decide after two or three weeks whether to repair or replace the toaster. That's TWO to THREE WEEKS just to decide what to do. I returned my toaster, and I will not be buying anything else from T-Fal.

When I decided I wanted to upgrade from a two-slice toaster to one that accommodated four slices, I researched the possibilities by visiting many stores, asking friends for recommendations, and reading reviews here. I finally settled on this T-Fal Avante toaster, which comes in shiny chrome metal and black plastic, with wide but short slots for four slices of bread. Perhaps the best feature is its dual toasting system, with two slots working independently of the other two, allowing for different settings and different start times. The slots are angled forward, and have lifts to raise the toast higher out of the slots upon completion of the toasting cycle. The two special settings, bagel browning (single side toasting) and reheat, apply to only one side - two slots - of the toaster. Both sides have independent cancel buttons. The back of the machine is flat, and so can be placed flush against a backsplash. The browning is even as long as both pieces of bread are the same thickness.

The disadvantages of the T-Fal are few, but perhaps important. First, the slots are of average length, sometimes making it difficult to fit bread machine slices inside. The slide-out crumb trays are in the back of the machine, making them inconvenient to empty. The look is chunky: 12 inches wide and 10 inches deep.

I wish I could say that this model is perfect; however, in twenty years I have yet to find a toaster that works as well as it should. This toaster at least seems to satisfy most conditions.

Electric toasters have been around about as long as radios, but it seems like either the industry hasn't really figured out proper design, or most people care about saving a few dollars more than the quality of the toast.

This machine is by far the best toaster I've seen. It has all the features I wanted (wide slots, racks that come in from both sides to adjust for bread/bagel thickness, popup extension so you don't have to reach inside). I've had a couple of other, US-made toaster which allegedly had these features, but they were badly made. The T-Fal actually works, and works very well.

The T-Fal unit is solid, very attractive, and toasts anything evenly. Just what you want in a toaster.

I also own several T-fal nonstick pans, which are terrific.

I'm sorry to report that this toaster is a huge piece of junk. It couldn't even toast toast that's already been toasted. With the extreme low level of heat that it is actually capable of producing, it is more of a bread drier than a toaster.

In the beginning, it would make toast... eventually. Over time it has gotten worse and worse and is now useless. The bread ejector buttons are poorly engineered enough that they usually don't work. The only reason I haven't taken it to the dump is I keep forgetting to grab it on sunday morning.

I don't write many reviews, but get upset when I feel I've wasted my money. I should have spent $8 on whatever was on sale.

Features: 5 Stars Reliability: 2 Stars

We purchased this item in December and by June it wasn't working very well. In all 4 slots one side of the heating elements stopped working. Thus, to cook the toast evenly one needs to turn the bread over half way through the toasting cycle which is a pain. May not be a problem for bagels or muffins if you are primarily cooking only one side of the bread. The tilt design is nice as the crumbs fall through a slot and into a lower pannel which keep them from burning. Crumbs plate is easily removed and cleaned. The defroster and re-heating features work well. I'd give it 5 stars if the unit was built to last, but I hate buying a new toaster every 6 to 12 months.

This toaster is a work of art in its design,but mine had a lot of problems. the heating elements buckle way out here and there when toasting,overbrowning some spots and leaving others completely untoasted!One slot browned only one side of the bread. Also, it took literally twice as long to toast anything as my old two slot that I'm replacing and the toast is utterly dried out by the time it pops up. I like the design so much that I may re-order to see if another works better,but with all the shipping costs I may just buy at a local store.