[ronnie_suburban]

...much appreciated. $99 does seem a bit high but not if the durability is good (hoping to get at least 5+ years of use from it). I will check it out.

The Bamix mixers run between $130 and $170 and they come highly recommended. The current top-of-the-line Braun runs about $89. At this point, I've ruled out cuisinart. I've read comments from several people about the taxing position of the power button on the cuisinart models.

Do you like your Braun? How long have you owned it? The unit I am replacing is a Braun. I went to use it the other day and discovered that it had a crack all the way up the plastic shaft. I never had any performance issues with it--it had always worked well. I probably owned it for about 3 years. FWIW, I can't say with certainty that it broke from use. Since I moved earlier this year, it may have happened during the move.

Do you have any thoughts on stainless vs. plastic shaft? Stainless seems more durable, but might be prone to bending and/or denting. Plastic seems less durable, but perhaps better at resisting minor dings (in storage, etc.) that could affect performance. Also wondering which is more important, wattage or rpm.

As you can probably tell, I'm having a bit of consumer paralysis <g>

=R=