Kambrook Simple Soupmaker Aka Soup Simple $52.68 Online, $49 in Store @Woolies RRP $99

Lazy person's or student's way to cook pureed soups, or even to cook a plain veggie soup fast and puree it just a bit at the end to make it thicker. Stock cubes + water + cut up fresh veg + spice = surprisingly yummy soup goodness. You can choose "just cook the stuff I throw in", "cook and blend it all into a puree", or "let me cook it and then choose how long to blend it" to get a thick chunky soup (2 different settings, pulse and intermittent blend, for this), settings.

Good points:
Stainless steel bowl so you can cook soups with acidic stuff like fresh tomato.
Easy to clean, no glass beaker to break as on some soup makers.
Cooks quick, 20-30 minutes depending on setting.

Negatives:
It cautions against cooking high sugar content veg like some canned tomatoes in it as that may stick.
Like many rice cookers, has only one temperature setting, "on". ;-)
600W, which is not the highest-power blending offered in this type of appliance (researched before I bought), but for blending cooked veg, works just fine.

For $49, if you like thicker or pureed soup, it's a nice deal on a simple way to make it.

The recipes in the instruction manual also include a granita drink and baby food. Haven't tried either one, don't know how the blades would hold up to lots of ice crushing, would rather save mine for soup (and don't have a baby to feed).

Cheaper in-store than on the Woolies online site.