Hit or Miss: Conair 1.5 inch Curling Iron

Now that my hair has gotten longer, I have wanted to started wearing it in larger, looser curls/waves.  I picked up the Conair 1.5 inch barrel curling iron from Target thinking that it would be a good way to achieve "effortless" waves that would last all day.  My hair holds curl relatively well.  This iron is coated in gold, supposedly helping your hair hold the curl all day.  It also lets you adjust the level of heat, and comes with a swivel cord to combat getting tangles in the electrical cord.

Usually when you first start using a new hair styling product like a flat iron or curling iron, it has a slight burning smell while it burns off stuff from packaging and manufacturing.  Eventually it stops doing that, though.  Well, at least, usually it does.  That's not necessarily the case here.

Not only does the iron itself have a pretty strong burning plastic smell, but it also leaves my hair stinking too!  I'm hoping it was burning product and not burning hair... the smell lasts in my hair all day, and although the curls/waves are nice and tend to last, the smell makes it unbearable, so I had to throw the curling iron away.

This curling iron is a definite MISS!  Anyone have any good recommendations for other larger-barrel irons that work well?  I have another Conair one (tourmaline coated), but it doesn't work all that well.  Any other suggestions?