BARBAR 1800 1 in. Cordless Ceramic Flat Iron

First, let's clarify -There seem to be three different types of cordless straight irons (and curling irons, for that matter):

1. Uses alternative fuel, typically propane cartridges, so it will work even in locations with no electricity.

2. Uses electricity to "charge" the iron so that you can later turn it on, heat it up and use it in a location without convenient charging capability.

3. A "portable" iron that heats through insertion in a separate stand but begins to lose heat as soon as it is taken from the stand.

This iron is one of the latter, type #3. You have to be near electricity in order to use it -the stand, at least, has to be plugged in in order for the iron to get hot. You can then remove the iron from the stand and use it without having a cord attached, then put it back into the stand if it begins to cool down. Think about how the girls ironed in Little Women: you put the iron in the fire, it gets hot, you iron a while, then you put it back in the fire. No cord. Same idea here.

This seemed to fit my needs perfectly; what I was looking for with this iron was lack of cord clutter... my current iron cord gets shut in my vanity drawers all the time -or the cord gets wrapped around the drawer handle -which is not good for the cord and frustrating for me. This iron did provide that -the stand sat back by the outlet, and the iron was much more "out of the way" because of the vertical placement rather than laying across the vanity. It was a big space saver and big clutter eliminator.

However, the cons outweighed the pros for me and I ended up returning the unit. The iron is much heavier than my other corded irons, even without any cord attached! It only heats to one level and there is no temperature readout, so all you can use to judge temperature is how well it is working on your hair at the moment. The thing that absolutely drove me nuts, though, was the "temperature achieved" indicator... three piercing, warbling tones. Turn the iron on and, eventually, "wheedee wheedee wheedee," it is hot. Use it on a few strands, put it back into the stand and pretty soon "wheedee wheedee wheedee." My husband tries to sleep for another half hour in our adjoined bedroom while I prep in the morning and he could NOT get used to this beeping, even through the closed door! It is very annoying.

A few other general information notes -there is a blue power light that glows when the unit is turned on. The on/off button on the iron is a slider switch, and there is a toggle switch on the base, as well. So you could leave the iron on and only use the base toggle to save time, I suppose, or vice versa, although I'd rather turn the base off and save energy, I think. The edges of the iron are very square so it is hard to get an even "flip" or gentle curl of any kind when finishing ends, and very easy to get "corner" marks in your otherwise straight hair. I did find that the straightener worked quite well for me in terms of general straightening, but I have very straight, fine hair, anyway, and really only need minor smoothing, not actual curl removal! Also, it is possible to plug the cord directly into the iron, not using the base, supposedly making this unit better for travel (since you don't have to pack the base), but I think the thing is still so bulky and heavy, why not get an inexpensive travel iron, instead? Or, as I've done, just go back to using a traditional, corded iron...

Meets my expectations, heats up quickly, beeps three times when its ready for use. I know some of the reviews I read the beeping sound was piercing but in my opinion , not too loud, but loud enough to hear from another room, which is good because I'm not always in the same room. Even in the same room it still isn't too loud for me personally. No regrets on this purchase. I gave it four stars instead of five because I wish the edges were more rounded for slight curls or flips.

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