Plumbed is so much more convenient, if you can do it. No shlepping water to the unit, more space inside the unit (since it doesn't need a water container), it never runs out of water, it automatically drains the water (little or no wiping out), and can effectively purge the steam before opening the door. Also, the Gagg Combi is much more than just a steam oven. It can do convection roasting/baking, since you can set the amount of steam to 100%, 80%, 60%, 30%, or zero with any temperature you want (not just 210 degrees).

The trim kit covers up the unfinished edges (especially the sides) of the steam oven and serves no other purpose. You can install it in a 24" cabinet and try to look past the unfinished design or have stainless steel fabricator custom make a 24" wide trim kit/sleeve. We had a customer considering this before ultimately buying the trim kit. By the way, my Viking distributor has a 27" desinger trim kit available for $500 and it could be shipped. The Viking is a very nice unit and the OEM is Kuppersbush (or someone makes both of these units). But the other steamers in the market don't need a trim kit.

I replied to your other post about plumbed or not; I recommend plumbed. I haven't seen photos or specs of the unplumbed Gagg steam oven, but I can imagine that it would have a smaller capacity to make room for the reservoir. This was the case when comparing our Gagg steam oven with Miele (a year ago). I would not want our steam unit to be any smaller. The trays measure 15" x 12.75" & you can stack up to 4 if you are using shallow trays rather than putting something tall on a rack. The ability to use steam less than 100% or no steam makes the oven more versatile than steaming alone. This lets us bake smaller things that we wouldn't want to use a big oven for, and it preheats quickly. We can also gently reheat food, including plates of food, without drying it out. For this reason, we opted not to install a warming drawer in our new kitchen. We now have a toaster for toast, & find it does a better job than our old toaster oven.

Christie, I have one of the older models of the Gagg combi-steam that I bought for about $2500 US as a showroom sample in the summer of 2008. (That was a lot of money on our budget!) It stayed in the showroom for six months, then in the garage for another six months until we were ready to install in the kitchen reno. I was pretty intimidated by it at first so procrastinated on actually using it, happy just to admire how pretty it looked! I finally got brave a few weeks ago, dug out that little paper wheel cooking guide from my box of appliance manuals, took a wild guess as to the settings, and cooked brown rice in it. WOW! Great texture and no boilover gunk on the stove! Then a few days later reheated half a quiche that had been sitting in my fridge for a few days. AMAZING! Crust was crisp, filling piping hot and still moist, like I had just baked it (maybe better!) I have also reheated dinner plates full of various leftovers, and each item comes out great with no stirring. Now, every time I think about popping something in my microwave, I consider the steam oven. I am not a gourmet cook but this unit is really interesting and inspires me to experiment. The neatest thing for me is my husband's enthusiasm about this unit. He actually has very little sense of taste and substantially reduced saliva due to radiation treatments 3 years ago. His enjoyment of food is based mostly on its texture and whether it "goes down easy." He has complimented me on every item I have prepared using the combi-steam and that made it worth every penny! Have fun deciding!