It's finally up to you. I don't know the delicate balance of price vs. latest and greatest. I just think you have to have a 'story' and believe it when you're buying something so expensive. Salespeople don't mind people being hesitant about price, or even educating themselves, but if you flip flop between models they'll give up on you. Of course it would be worth it for $3,000 (Capital performance 48"). But if you're just going to wish you paid $2,000+ more and got the range of your dreams then it doesn't matter. I think it's good to have a back up plan (a second Choice), but figure out what you really want and negotiate hard for that model. Ask them "If I move up to the Precision, what kinda deal can I get? Are there rebates?...I've been checking around.." If you want the lower priced one say "It seems like there isn't a big enough sale on the 'old' model and I hear there are rebates for the new one. I'd be happy with the old model, but it would have to be much less in price, of course" If it doesn't work out, maybe the backup is better. Sales people want to make you happy, because they 'gotcha' so you have to provide them with a path that will make you happy! Always good to be upbeat. I gave you reasons why they should be willing to 'give' the old model away. If you really want the new one just let them know that-- provided you can be happy with the price, or delivery, or removing the old one etc. The economy is not great, things are much different than they were even 6 months ago. Capital would not be having a 'rebate' unless they wanted to get some models out there in the real world. (I know they read these posts). But it's true, they want your business. If you have the time (and money) spend some time and learn the differences between the two (or more). Remember, the Precision comes either regular or self-clean. These are good ranges.I'd be happy with either, but for different reasons. BTW, I own a Bluestar, and I did very little negotiating, but spent 6 months on this forum first.

I'm finally getting around to updating this post. The service guy came with the proper screwdriver and adjusted all by one of my simmers down to the lowest possible setting without having the burner blow out and start clicking to reignite. I originally thought that this adjustment affected my HI setting, making it slightly lower, so I asked him to leave one rear burner unadjusted to be used for rapid boiling of large pots of water. My Capital contact called back to ensure that the adjustment had been made and he spent a lot of time with me on the phone while I checked the burners and the control knob, etc. and now I understand that the screw that adjusts the simmer ONLY controls the simmer and it is impossible for it to affect the flow of gas at the hi setting. I don't remember exactly what he said, but apparently there are seperate valves for different settings and the screw behind the knob only adjusts the simmer. I've also learned that by design, the entire knob is not meant to control the flame height; only about 1/2 of the knob is able to control the flame and the low half has no impact on the flame height and is not supposed to. I think that marking the knob as if it has an effect is silly, since the mid-point SHOULD be a visual clue that it is your medium flame and not your simmer flame, but the bottom line is that you have to stoop down to check flame height if you want a medium flame and can not rely on the knob markings except for Ignite, HI and LOW (low flame will be achieved way before the low mark on the knob, but it sill still be Low so it doesn't matter.) Now, about the grates and tipping. Capital has confirmed that pots can tip and they are trying to redesign the grates to solve this potential safety issue, of which they were unaware until I complained of my experience. Either I'm the only one who this has happened to (and it will happen every time I cook with my smaller diameter pots unless I align the handle with a long support), or I'm the only one who bothered to call about it. It turns out that the fix is not as simple as one might hope. If you have a Capital rangetop, you can see that where the longer supports approach the burner cover, that the holes for the gas are of much smaller diameter. This is to prevent the supports from getting too hot when the burner is set to the Highest setting, and becoming damaged and ultimately rusting. All the other gas holes are much larger holes, and this is because there are no grate supports close. So, they can't simply have 4 more supports come closer to the center without considering the extreme extra heat that those supports would get, and still have the 19K BTU at HI that they want to offer. Bottom line, they are working on it and I'm confident they will find a solution before too many months and I will be able to have safer grates! While I was not entirely happy with my few months of slight buyer's remorse, I am very impressed with the ultimate response I finally got from Capital, especially with the fact that they are addressing the grate issue which I think it HUGE! Do I wish I had a different rangetop? Not anymore, because no one else offered an 8 burner option and my issues are either resolved as much as possible or are being worked on.

I repeated the "sugar test" with better results this time. It appears that the temperature gradient from front to back is pretty small, although it appears to be real. This time I took the same pan I had before (1/2 sheet insulated jelly roll pan), lined it with foil, and sprinkled granulated sugar over the pan as evenly as I could. I preheated the oven to 350F. It cycled at least two times, but I wasn't paying super close attention. I centered the pan on the middle rack and left it in for 15 mins. Results below: None of the sugar melted (the melting point for table sugar is 367F). This tells me that when set to 350F no part of the pan made it to 367F for any appreciable amount of time. The sugar did get a little tosted (to be expected). I then removed the pan and adjusted the oven to 375F. Again, it cycled at least two times when getting to to the 375F setting. The pan went in again in the same position for 15 minutes. The result is below. All the sugar melted in the pan, with the sugar that was towards the back of the oven browning more than the sugar towards the front of the oven (the top of the pan in the photo), indicating warmer temps in the back as observed before. What I have learned: 1) my ability to turn a knob to a set temperature in a reproducible fashion is questionable. 2) there is a temperature gradient in the oven cavity, albeit a small one (probably on the order of 8F or less when the oven is set to 375F in this case). The difference, although small, can be significant in certain cooking situations if other basic precautions aren't taken. 3) I am way too caught up in this and need to get on with my life! ;) BTW the oven door lock issue has not repeated itself. Perhaps the mechanism was just a little sticky when the range was brand spankin' new.

That was very nice of you to post a "Follow up" So many times, many of us here, do quite a bit of work to help an Op that posts a problem. Then they disappear without ever letting us know---"what the final outcome" was. Good feedback helps everybody, we know we are "Barking up the right Tree" with our inputs, We know how the company resolved the problem/or didnt----etc etc! Thanks Again!! Gary