amphibious, I'll guess you mean 2 appliances, both under the counter: "... about 6.5 cubic feet of fridge space and 2.5 cubic feet of freezer space, which means two units. What I had envisioned before I started doing research is one sole refrigeration unit and one fridge/freezer. Little did I know that the fridge/freezer units would be so hard to come by..." The more motors, different cooling circuits and separator walls you try to cram into a small space, the less space you have left over to call fridge or freezer. I got a 36" unit, for that reason. More real space left over, after the insulation and mechanical stuff. Your perceived space needs are actually in a range, quite elastic. Go for a fridge unit and a freezer unit.

I've had both the Viking gas range open burner (6) and the Thermador cooktop (LP) sealed burner (6) both 36 in. I prefer the Viking but I understand they are not making the open burners any more. I have one retailer looking for one for me because I'm replacing the Thermador (It died after 2+ years in a lightning strike). But (not to throw a monkey wrench into the mix) I think I'm gonna spend the extra money and get the Bluestar (because it has the open burners that I prefer). The Thermador had problems with the low simmer feature from the day I got it. The burner would shut off automatically even when on high or medium. Very frustrating. Its actually more difficult to clean than the open burner viking I had. And even the low simmer feature couldn't get low enough to simmer stock properly (my Kenmore gas grill burner did a better job). And if you have a problem with thermador, their customer service is lousy (Had the freedom fridge/freezer columns with mult repairs never really fixed). The Viking open burners I had in my old house for 7+ years NEVER had any problems. The range had a problem with the ignition ( the door would blow open because the unit would fill up with too much gas before sparking) It was fixed in short order (2or 3 days if I remember) and I never had another problem with it. Good luck with your decision!

I need to make the same decision. :) I do not know the cost of the same base units from Gaggenau. Perhaps someone could post them if they get them before me. I think the layout in the Gagg is better than Miele or Thermador. The UI always seems better on the Gaggenau, too (based on reading the operating guides).

Allow me to address induction cooktop reliability in much the same way as in other threads on this topic. An induction cooktop has a considerable amount of electronics, each component of which may have a reliability measured in tens of thousands of hours, but together statistics rules and the mean time to failure approaches a few to several years rather than decades. Some brands have been in the business for a long time and others less, so their ability to reach a cost point at high reliability may vary. So can the impact of buying a new one on the pocketbook vary with financial situation. More inconvenient is the variation among brands of the cutout one needs in the countertop. This may limit what brands can be used to replace a failed unit. Repair is an option, but the parts costs and time to disassemble the cooktop may make repair a cost-inefficient solution. That is, a new unit is less expensive than a repair. My solution (specific to induction cooktops) is to buy a five year warranty extender (four years plus manufacturer warranty), and recently a two year extension on that. What this does is average the cost of the unit plus warranty over a number of years so that the yearly cost, given a failure, is low -- essentially one is renting the unit -- with any use beyond the warranty period free. As an example, assume a $1300 cost plus $300 for warranty extension. $1800 over 5 years is $360. This is more than a US standard coil cooktop would cost over its lifetime, but not necessarily less than a high-end gas cooktop or range might cost over the same lifetime. With a two-year warranty extension, say $200, one now has a $2000 cost averaged over 7 years for $286 per year average cost. In my case the unit is a Frigidaire (Electrolux brand) Gallery. It replaced a Kenmore (also by Electrolux) which lasted a little more than 5 years. So far the Gallery has lasted past 5 years. Keep in mind the actual meaning of mean time to failure (usually expressed in operational hours). It is the average time to failure of a large number of units. Some will fail sooner and some later. So, "Do you feel lucky?" If not, consider an extended warranty.