Just a comment from someone who had a very strict budget when I was choosing my appliances. I found I saved a good amount of money by choosing an all-gas ("AG") range rather than a dual fuel. The AG range itself was cheaper than a dual fuel, and also I didn't need to have an electrician run a line to the range so I saved money there too. There has been some debate on this Forum about whether the dual fuel is a significant difference over the AG in cooking ability. I love my AG, and all my baked goods come out delicious and perfect.

With the money I saved on the AG, I was able to budget for a proper hood, rather than an over-the-range microwave. The hood is a significant improvement over the OTR microwave, believe me. A huge improvement; I can't praise it enough. Also, my countertop microwave cost me about $110, so was another budget savings.

Of course, we all have different priorities on where we want to spend money. There are so many people on this Forum who spent your budget of $6000 on just one appliance alone. (I wish I could do that!) But, anyway, I just thought I'd give my $.02 on how I budgeted for my appliances.

Thanks and I have thought of that. I actually have the electric lines for it and I will have to bring gas to the range. I do want a gas range. With that said, there is only a $100 price difference on these GE Cafe's between the AG and the dual fuel.

The hood I love, but I think we will still do the microwave...and I will probably regret it. :)

I am also looking at the GE cafe line. The range was what I liked first and I am now considering the other cafe line pieces. May I ask why you did not stay with this line for the other items? I must admit that I have just started looking at appliances and it just seemed easier to me to go with one line. I did put alot of time and research into the range choice and know that people are happy with the GE products in general.

I really did not want a complete line (like saying I have the GE Cafe Line). I never found a line of appliances where I liked every single one of their appliances. For example...I have always liked the Kenmore or Bosch dishwasher more than others, but I don't want to buy all of their other appliances in that.

The only place where I may just decide to say in the same line is the range and the microwave because they are right there next to each other and it might look good to have them pretty much the same look. Anyway, those are just my ideas.

Dump the Kenmore and buy a $900 Bosch dishwasher. It is the best appliance we own.

Hi, this is interesting because I have the same budget and am also planning on buying the GE cafe but I will go all gas. Has anyone seen this in stores yet??? I checked a local store yesterday and they had the Fridge, but nothing else. My other choices are a little different and not definite yet.

Good luck.
Rae

Brosamj: I have ordered the GE Cafe' DF range for our beach place; it's scheduled for delivery on October 1. I have not gotten to see this range in person and am banking on the fact that it's based on the GE Profile range which gets good reviews. I chose the DF over gas because, like you said, there is very little price difference and this will give me the self-cleaning oven. I have a Wolf AG at home because the DF was $2K more but I miss the self-clean. My appliance repairman likes the GE cooking products from a performance/reliability standpoint. I will post a review once our range is up and running and I get a chance to cook on it.

I have the GE Monogram Advantium 120 and really like it for all of its different capabilities/functions.

The Kenmore Elite dw's get very good reviews on Consumer Reports. I believe that yours is either a rebadged Bosch or Kitchenaid - the Sears salesman should be able to tell you which. I have a Kitchenaid "S" series which has been wonderful; many love their Bosch's as well. I don't think you can go wrong with either and I wouldn't hesitate to buy the rebadged Kenmore.

It seems to me that you've made excellent choices for your budget.

Hi all, I am answering my own question... I was at our local home depot and they now have a GE cafe display with the range and the frige. It really is beautiful. 2499 AG and 2599 DF. There is also a 250 dollar rebate/gift card type offer on top of that. I may not buy mine there, but will take the price to our local appliance store to see if they can beat it.

Good Luck.
Rae

rae_k...one other note, if you buy another GE appliance (fridge, microwave, etc.), you can get back another $100 rebate from GE currently. It is only on certain models, but it is a wide selection. Using that rebate along with Home Depot's $250 gift card, it will knock that dual fuel down over $300 and that aint bad! :)

As Zoenipp says, excellent choices.

zoenipp, is your range in and running yet?

I have changed up a bit of my selections and final prices and I went with this:

Refrigerator: Samsung Quattro ($1400). This is normally a $2500 fridge, but they had a clearance and this was the floor model, so I got the $1100 price break.

GE Cafe Dual Fuel ($2100). I got a discount on this of $500 because I also bought the microwave.

GE Cafe microwave ($550)

Kenmore Energy Efficient Turbo Dishwasher ($1050). I got this on sale for about $200 off the price. It was the first sale on this in several months.

I have yet to have these installed. They will all be installed in 10 days and I can't wait. Final sticker price was: $5100 plus taxes. I will give an update on the appliances after a couple of weeks of use.

I will be getting the Café Range (AG for me) but not the other Café appliances. The Café Microwave is only a microwave  for $550??? IÂm going to get the GE Profile MW/Convection OTR  so I will have 2 convection ovens at my disposal. :-) $535 at HD.

I will probably get the GE Profile French Door fridge.

I was very disappointed that the Café MW was not Convection and that the Café fridge was not French DoorÂ

To be honest, I didn't mind too much that it wasn't convection. It has a strong venting system for an over the range microwave, it has good sensor/heating distribution for a microwave and I liked the look quite a bit. The price is on the high end for an over the range microwave without convection, but it worked out for me.

I did look at some of the microwave convections (ge profile, advantium, etc.) and I think all of those would have been good choices as well.

The bottom line is that you are happy! :-) I do like the look of the Café mw better, but I really want Convection But, unlike you, IÂve yet to actually make a purchase! So youÂll be cooking away with your new appliances and IÂll still be here dreamingÂ

Enjoy! :-)