I have a Brandt that is almost 4 years old. I believe the brand merged and is now known as Fagor-Brandt.

I chose it because it has a power boost on each burner, has a completely flat surface (no knobs) that I can use as workspace, timers on each burner (very handy) and because its shallow depth and specs allowed placement of a full-sized drawer beneath the unit.

We installed the 30" Thermador, mainly for the small clearance required underneath the cooktop. We have a large utility drawer under the cooktop.
We have had it for a year, it works well and we have no complaints.

I avoided any cooktop that the specs mentioned a requirement for clearance greater than 2 inches.

gma j,

If you haven't yet, take a look at The Induction Site:

http://theinductionsite.com/north-american-countertop.shtml

It is the very best compendium of information about induction cooktops. They aren't impressed with the 'special features' that distinguish one brand from another. Their listings includes a very useful $ per KW rating.

Jeff

I have a De Dietrich, which is made by Fagor, imported so probably not what you need to consider (I bought before there were a lot of US brands to choose from). It, like Fagor and Brandt, has low clearance so I have a full-size drawer under it. It has a smooth surface (no knobs) and timers on each burner, which I really like.

My only negative: The burners are in a diamond configuration, which I thought would be great. However, the two smaller burners are in a direct line (one in front, the other in back) and they are the burners I use most often. The larger burners, at each end, get very little use and I wish one of them was smaller as the pans I use (except for one large skillet and a soup pot) don't cover them and, thus, the boost element won't work with any pans but these two. So, evaluate what size pans you will use most often and choose your cooktop accordingly.

I love induction and am so glad I chose it. It looks stunning on my liptus butcherblock countertop. And, it's so safe and soooo fast and accurate.

I have the 36 inch Miele; I like the large burner in the upper middle, I'm surprised I have to press so hard on the digital pads.

I am thrilled with induction; I used a wolf gas cooktop for 7 years and loved it's efficiency, I never thought I would love induction more; so quick and clean.

On the Miele try touching very lightly. I can just barely touch the pad or it almost seems I just have to get close. Make sure your fingers are not wet. Induction works great and the control you have is so much different from regular electrics takes some time to get use to. I do I like the cleanup.

Thanks everyone for sharing your thoughts and I will definitely look at the induction site.
So far, the only ones I have even looked at are the GE Monogram and the Miele. Glad to hear a couple are enjoying their Miele. I will also look at the Thermador now, carguy. Would love to hear more comments.

I love my Miele as well. No wet fingers, though, and don't cover the controls, they start beeping.

Judy

I have the 30" GE. We liked this one because it was a solid black surface, without a frame. Also, we wanted to put an oven under in and the GE allowed this.

I love my stove and will never ever own a messy gas range again.

I have a 30" Miele. I really like it, although I do find that the controls can be tricky sometimes, especially with wet fingers.
I also find that when i have pots on the burners that are on the same power line, I hear more clicking/humming noise.
But honestly, I don't care that much. I love the responsiveness and quick heat-up of the induction, not to mention the ease of cleanup.

In case you haven't made a decision, consider the Kitchenaid 36" - it doesn't seem to be mentioned here, but I love mine. When we decided to renovate the kitchen, we were going to run a gas line; that proved to be a logistical nightmare, and I'm so happy that we didn't do it. Our frameless cooktop is a breeze to clean, extremely responsive, and has a nice configuration of hobs. Before purchasing, I made a template to make sure my pots would fit next to one another. So far, nothing's burned on, and all I do is wipe with a wet sponge, and buff with a microfiber cloth. I'd never go back to gas or conventional electric.

I LOVE INDUCTION!

I have used both cast iron (Lodge, Le Creuset) and magnetic stainless (All-Clad). After extensive use, I can confidently say that cast iron works much better on induction. Whether it's due to just the thermal mass or the larger mass of magnetic material, I have never needed to go above setting 11. My cooktop goes to 15 plus boost. On the stainless, I need to go to 13-15 to get a good sear, not so with the cast iron.

My All-Clad 8-qt stock pot seems to confuse the pan overheat sensor on the cooktop. After about 5 minutes, the cooktop thinks the pot has gotten too hot (over 450 degrees) and starts to limit the power. Very annoying when all I'm trying to do is boil water. This doesn't happen with my Le Creuset or Lodge cast iron, or even the other All-Clad pieces. I think there is something about this particular pot that causes problems. It happens on both sides of the cooktop, which have completely different sensors and are independent of each other.

If you get induction, do yourself a favor and get a nice set of pre-seasoned cast iron cookware. You will love the results!

Like LCD big-screen TVs, the guts of induction cooktops come from only one principal manufacturer. This makes the differences among retail brands mostly among cosmetics and control operation (e.g, must you tap an up-arrow four times to cook at level or 4 or tap on the "4" pad directly). Other consideration might be the strength of the brand's customer service function.

Last spring someone on this forum recommended the 36" Windcrest and I did some investigating. Talked with a company representative in CA and was totally impressed. They connected me with a sales representative and the unit was shipped to my appliance installer without incident. I LOVE the cooktop and would highly recommend. The layout is very nice and there is no power sharing; a feature that I was interested in. There are no timers if that is important to you. The preset "low," "medium" and "high" are very handy and it is very easy to "fine tune" from there. The speckled top is nice for hiding fingerprints and spills. All the cooking this holiday season gave me the opportunity to see just how competent my new cooktop actually is; couldn't be happier! Just one woman's humble opinion. I would strongly recommend seeing some demos before making your final decision.

After doing tons of research, I think the WindCrest comes out on top for all the reasons stated above, plus, it doesn't have a stainless steel frame so it's easier to keep clean. Oh, and it's plenty powerful too.