If you want to get the best possible set-up you will need to mix and match and many of us do that. I have a KA fridge and DW and I'm very pleased with them - but I do agree with you about what I've read of the ovens. Miele makes great ovens - for a rangetop you could go with Wolf, DCS, or Bluestar.

Or Caldera for a range top - read the Caldera threads on this forum. Well made, relatively inexpensive - has raves from users.

I'm stymied on the fridge - need a CD FD - but none is any good, according to what I've heard. I'll get a KA dishwasher and I'm getting a Monogram oven to go under the Caldera cooktop.

We mixed our appliances:
DCS all gas range
Gaggenau induction burner & teppanyaki cooktop
Gaggenau steam & convection ovens
SubZero refrigerator, freezer, & icemaker
Monogram Advantium speed cooker/microwave
Miele dishwasher

If I had to go with just one manufacturer, I'd pick Monogram first, KitchenAid second, depending on service availability.

Thanks everyone for the advice. I'm worried though that the Miele, Monogram and Gaggenau ovens might be a little beyond my cooking abilities. I don't want to pay for 17 oven functions if I'm only ever going to use 5, etc. This is my first house, and I've always had the kind of apartment ovens with just one knob, so 17 operating modes seems a bit intimidating! Is their another good basic convection oven that won't break down on me, but still allows me some nice features? (I do plan on becoming a better cook in the future:) Are GE Profile's any good? The $2000 range seems a good price area for what I need.

As much as I hate Consumer Reports (because I find them uninformed if you are really an enthusiast in the area of products that they are reviewing -- e.g. cars, stereo equpment, etc for me), I think they do have reasonable reliability specs. You might order an on-line subscription and do some research, or try (gag ;) ) the library.

Reliability reports for a forum like this probably don't have a large enough sample size to be trustworthy (plus people with problems write posts; people without are happily cooking away).

Here's a thread with some good shopping advice.

And most people here know that I disagree with Dan, and think that the CR reliability ratings are the weakest part of their ratings, for many reasons. I think you can find my list of the weaknesses by searching here (use the search function at the BOTTOM of the page, not the one at the top) for Consumer Reports. But bottom line is, if you are looking for reliability ratings, this is all we have, as poorly designed and flawed as they are.

Back to the OP. GE makes OK cooking appliances, I guess. Most popular mid-priced ranges reported here on this forum are from Frigidaire and the ones that they make for Kenmore Sears.

Here is a link that might be useful: thread on buying major appliances