Cindy, I have the stainless with black cooktop and have had it for about 8 months. The temp seemed a little off to me and I used an oven thermometer and it was about 20 degrees too low. I used it that way and would add 20 each time I'd use it until someone told me to calibrate it. There are directions in the owners manual how to do this. Very simple. Just a few buttons pressed and it was correct. No, I have not used the convection feature (honestly I forgot about it!) I have not had any problems with it. I have heard many negative comments about the KA-noisy fan, blows circuit breakers- just to name a few.

I have the Twins, so not the exact ones you are looking at but I can attest to the Frigidaire complaints as far as noise and not energy star. You will note the noise of the compressors cutting on and off...think 2 units and they rarely seem to be off/on at the same time so 2x as much sound. I am used to it and unless I am home alone and the house is completely quiet I don't pay it much attn. but it is a reality that you need to be aware of. They run a lot...a lot...they are not energy star. Now the positives...the interior has held up very well for 4 years of tough use and they look as they did when installed, I have had no problem at all with cold enough at all , they keep things perfectly in the fridge and freezer. Hope this helps with your choices. Mine were only $750 each so VERY cheap. I would love a wonderful builtin energy saver all fridge/all freezer that is reasonable in price but I think that I am not going to find anything better than what I have and with the sad way appliances are now made I am thinking I will just stick with what I have. c

Finding a beige/biscuit/bisque colored DW is getting difficult as I discovered last summer when I set out to replace one. As your budget is apparently in the $300 range, I suggest you also look at the Whirlpool WDF300 (or it might be WDF310; I don't specifically recall right now.). A friend bought one from Lowe's or Costco recently and says it has been fine even with her very hard well water. IIRC, it's normal cycle time is around 2.5 hours but I believe it has a "1 hour wash" cycle. Consumer Reports does annual membership surveys on th the reliability of appliances. The recent results show Whirlpool branded DWs as tied with Bosch and Miele for most reliable (about an 8% defect rate). Curiously, Whirlpool's other brands (including Kitchenaid, Maytag and Amana) run about double that defect rate. Note the current thread here on KA hose-clamps breaking. Frigidaire runs about a15% defect rate. LG apparently has the worst rate, 20%. GE seems to be mid-pack at around 12%. This post was edited by JWVideo on Wed, May 29, 13 at 20:09

From what I have read KA has issues especially with their wall ovens, not sure about their ranges, but I suspect there would be the same kind of issues with the ovens in them. KA makes great refridgerators and dishwashers though. Remember not every manufacturer makes every appliance well. as far as the stainless goes, don't even worry about matching it. The skins on a refridegerator are a #6 finish stainless and are formed in a single piece as they can't have welded seams and then be re polished to blend the welds in. The #6 finish will fingerprint easier than a #4 finish. Better quality ranges and hoods are #4 finish as the #4 finish can be stroke sanded to restore the #4 finish after welding corner seams. The #4 finish is easier to wipe clean without leaving greasy marks. It is a little less shiny and has a coarser grain than the #6 finish. Our KA fridge and F&P dish drawers are #6 finish, they don't really fingerprint bad as we use the handles most of the time. Our CC range and VAH are #4 finish, they still go together well with the frige and dish drawers. The #6 finish would a real pain to keep clean on a range though. I don't know your budget or cooking style so I don't want to suggest a preticular range.