Glad to hear you are happy. The Webers get good ratings from Consumer Reports, as well. However, it's not quite the same type of grille as the Members Mark or the Virco, which have a more "professional" or restaurant quality appearance. I admit that looks were a large part of my decision to purchase the Virco. That it works well is of course very nice. I see no problems with the rotisserie other than the left hand warming shelf support interfering with the thumbscrew. Apparently this is a problem on one run of the Vircos. I fixed in in about 10 minutes with a dremel tool. For me, no biggie. The spit on the Virco is very strong and thick and looks like it could easily hold a 20 lb turkey. However, the Virco is not easily transported. It has high quality wheels, but the whole thing weighs about 200 lbs so I'm not planning on loading it into the truck and taking it to picnics. That's just not what it's designed for. Another good grill in the sub-$500 price range is the Great Outdoors grill series. These have 25 year burner warranties, and sound like they are excellent as well. Again, not a restaurant quality look, but like your Weber a well built functioning unit. In terms of temperatures... I frankly don't understand the preoccupation with temps over 500F. I don't think these extremely high temps are necessary or desirable for good cooking results. Searing can be done at 450F, indirect, or on the grill for direct heat. Roasting or smoke-roasting (which is what happens when you lower the lid) is best done at temps at or below 325. The rotisserie gives great results - the chamber only heats to about 150F - but who cares about that as long as the food is cooked properly?

I agree with dross, but will add some small details. Both have apparent advantages and disadvantages, and although the Miele does seem very interesting it is quite a bit more expensive and doesn't have a track record yet. I'm also deciding between the two, but I'm leaning towards the Miele (80% sure at this point) right now. I need to do some renovation to the laundry room to fit either machine and given my slow pace in doing these kind of projects I'm hoping some more history on the Miele comes to light before needing to order either machine. To be fair the W4840 is the top of the line big capacity whereas Bosch 500 is their mid level. It's probably more fair to compare the Bosch 500 with the Miele W4800 or the Bosch 700 with the Miele W4840 at some level. Some of the things I've noticed as differences between the W4840 and 500 are: Spin speed: Miele 1400 rpm vs. Bosch 1100 rpm. This equates with a g-force difference of 370 g for the Bosch and 600 g for the Miele. At some point you can't spin much more water out of clothing regardless of g-force, but I'd expect the Miele to have a noticable difference. Temperatures: -----------------Bosch----------------------Miele xxtra-----------150F + 3 min @ 170F----------N/A Sanitary/Boost----150F-----------------------158F Hot---------------125F-----------------------140F Very Warm---------N/A------------------------122F Warm--------------95F------------------------104F Cold--------------60F------------------------86F Maybe it's just how we are use to doing laudry with our Asko and now Danby, but more often than not we do cotton whites at 140F and colors at 104F so the Miele's temps line up with our past experience and comfort level. Also don't some emzynes activate around 104F? If so, it's nice to have that as your "warm" wash option. Profile Wash: The Bosch does this directly, whereas the Miele you need to plumb your washer to allow this. It appears the Miele will do a profile wash but you need a way of either filling it with cold water only, or having the cold go to both the hot and cold inlets or maybe start the machine in one setting and then changing it within 6 minutes. If you need to do a lot of profile washes, the Bosch is a better choice. Hinges: The Bosch washer has the hinge on the left (like most all big american FLers) whereas the Miele it's on the right. Since your dealing with new construction it's not a big issue. Down the line if you want to replace your washer with another brand your choices are VERY limited regarding other large washers which are also right hinged. Weight: The Bosch weighs around 220 lbs whereas the Miele is about 290 lbs. Manufacturers don't add weight for fun and to increase manufacturing costs, shipping costs and installation hassle. This added heft is not doubt heavier duty components and I'm guessing a much heavier and more stable outer tank. As dross said, there isn't a track record yet, and the Miele might even experience some new product hiccups, but the Miele appears to be built like a tank. The Miele does have their waterproof system as you mentioned. It is not as extensive as seen on their dishwashers with inner/outer concentric hoses and a valve at the water take off. I believe it will pump the water out if a leak occurs internal to the machine. I don't view this as an acceptable level of protection (particularly for upper floors) to justify not installing a simple manual shutoff and a drain pan. If a supply hose bursts it won't protect you and if the power goes out it can't work. Given it's limitations I don't view it as providing enough to be viewed as an advantage vs. Bosch. Dryer: My pair aren't going to sit side-by-side so matching equipment isn't an issue. For a lot less money than the Miele you can get a very good dryer with more capability. If you buy the Miele dryer have the venting designed so another dryer would work there as well. The Miele puts the vent outlet out the back on the lower left corner (as viewed from the front). Every other dryer I know of has their rear outlet more or less centered in the back. A very bizarre design decision on their part. However, if I end up going with the Bosch, I would consider their dryer.

I see differences too, cuz I zoomed way in, and that also made me wonder if they are not hand carved. Look at the neck of the gown on the left, it looks like a 'v' neck. The one on the right appears more rounded (can't see the bottom of the 'v' anyway). Look at the waves in the end of the hair, behind the ear at the nape of the neck. On the right it appears to be 3 thinner symmetrical waves, on the left it appears to be two fuller waves. Facial features; the one on the right appears to have a more pointed chin, more defined lips, rounded nose. The one on the left has a softer chin, softer lips, straighter 'romanesque' nose (that's not a word, lol). If they were not hand carved, wouldn't the only other option then be machine made? And if machine made, wouldn't they be much closer to almost virtually identical? (Don't know about cameos much.) Imagine the skilled labor that would have to go into something hand-carved in such minute detail! Here is an example I found (bottom center of page), they are cuff links, but still a matching pair, they have subtle differences as well and are priced at $500. I just did a little googling, and found this from How to Identify Antique Vintage Sterling and Silver Jewelry Content: Look for marks, usually on the inside or clasp. If the jewelry is marked 800, it is considered COIN SILVER, and is 80 percent silver with 20 percent alloy. Jewelry must be .925 to be sterling silver in the USA. Most of the newer jewelry is marked .925 if it is sterling silver. .950 is a little better quality of sterling silver, and is found in older jewelry. .835 is common for older European silver. This offers some dating for the .835 silver in Europe. (I'm not big on yahoo's Q&A but that answer came from a librarian it says. ;) They are very pretty sweeby!

In order to post an image... you will have to upload your image to a host site. It is either one of the free sites such as flickr or photobucket or your own ISP free host site. Right click on the uploaded image and copy the image location and type the link in the following format. &ltimg src= your image link> I have a tight space in the laundry room. I already removed the laundry room door. Should I worry if I build my own platform even though my laundry room is on concrete slab. I don't know what is covered under the Lowes' extended warranty. Do they come back to level the washer? It took me sometimes to level my top loader and it is much smaller and lighter.