I am not sure how useful this will be. I replaced an electric smoothtop (I hate them!) in my house in Oregon with an Electrolux Wavetouch 5 burner dual fuel LP range. I only lived there full time for about a year with the range before relocating to Maine. Am not sure what the fascination with smooth tops, but I ended up with another one in the place I have purchased in Maine, its dual burner died after 4 months of use. I decided to replace it with the 30" all LP Berta range and am taking advantage of the hood promotion (BTW, they retail for $1,200). My place is heated with an LP based European type hydronic radiant heat units and a LP fireplace, so adding cooking should not tax my 300 gallon LP tank, LOL! I was looking for a range that is decidedly "manual" without an electronic interface due to the wind and subsequent power outages that are to common in this part of the state. I was also advised of service problems with the electronic interfaces on the Electroluxes, even though my range in Oregon has not had a service problem as of yet, knock on wood (am a reluctant landlord). Initially, I planned to purchase an Electrolux dual fuel floor model but could not pass up the hood promotion Bertazzoni is currently offering. I am only hoping when the range is installed, the oven temp will be adequately calibrated. I previously owned a Viking, but really did not want to spend the extra money for what I thought would be of marginal benefit. I also do not miss cleaning the Viking grates which were an exercise in weightlifting too! I visited friends of mine a few years ago in Europe and I believe they have a Berta (the knobs are pretty distinctive). I do about 70% rangetop and 30% oven cooking. My old Viking had gas convection and an infrared broiler and I really liked the oven and understand that the Berta is similar, though I believe the heat control is different (regulated by flame instead of on and off).

I wanted to share my latest range news. Sears approved a complete refund of my GEPBG975 and I bought an electrolux wavecontrol free standing range.(I wish I didn't have to have freestanding..but not enough money to gut my kitchen.) The switchover was today. I had to wait an extra 2 weeks as Sears had to order it. So far it looks like it has all the features of GE, but a few more bells and whistles, including more programing possibilities and very nice smooth sliding racks and a broiler pan and extra rack to be used with the pan for convection roasting. I like the rapid preheat and the instruction book is terrific and not made of newsprint.Also comes with a sturdy "quicklist" that is nice to put near the range while I'm learning the controls. I spoke to Electrolux beforehand...they sent me a cd to give me andvance instructions on how it works. A CD was also included with the range. It seems like a much sturdier and better made appliance than the GE. I like the center burner being an actual medium burner, rather than the oblong style of the Ge. The griddle can be used either as a grill or flat griddle on the left burners. I doubt I'll use that. One of the things I've noticed right away is that there is not that initial startup odor from the burners or the oven when the gas is first turned on. (Like gas logs.)I had that every time with the GE So,initially I give it a favorable report. I'll be doing a lot of cooking in the next few weeks, including making jelly, and will report back. I'm hoping for the best. It is wonderful not to be "shopping" anymore. Oh, the gasket seal seems very tight and the knobs aren't hot, (warm when the stove is on for a while, but that is expected.) Good luck! pdc

No our previous range was SS with a black top ant the black was really hard to keep clean our current range is all stainless and I usually just wipe it with a dry paper towel to clean up spatters. The range is a coarser finish than the fridge and dishwasher. On them I use a little Wyman's SS cleaner and polish about once a month it helps to prevent finger prints and of course we try to use the handles. You didn't mention specifics of what you want in appliances, but the old fashoned top freezer refrigerators are the least expensive, Maytag Whirlpool Kitchen Aid and Jenn Air are all made by Whirlpool and are your best brands. The Maytag and Whirlpool will be the least expensive. This is a nice range but over $1500 http://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/KGRS505XSS.html here is another all SS for $1050 http://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/JGB810SETSS.html here is a nice large otr microwave http://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/KHMS2040W.html and a smaller one for less http://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/R1514T.html for dishwasher I would stick with Bosch Kitchen Aid or Whirlpool. Hope this helps.

Note that Frigidaire specifies a 20" space between their appliances. http://pdf.lowes.com/howtoguides/012505503399_how.pdf I am pretty sure that that this is a matter of design function rather than safety, per se. The 20" spacing gives you countertop space on which to move things off the stove or put a cutting board, etc. It also provides a place for fridge doors to swing without bumping into the stove, etc. I did not see anything similar in the Samsung materials, but I would guess that was only because Samsung did not think of it. It doesn't mean the same considerations will not apply. As I said above, though, we work with the kitchens we have, and if you have to put the stove and fridge next to each other, that is what you have to do. As for differences between the stoves, the Frigidaire does have larger power-boost on the back rear burner at 3400 wH. The Smasung NE 597 has the two square burners on the left side. If you have a really big pot, you can run them together and get power boost at 4600 wH, but otherwise, running the left rear burner separately with its own boost, you get 2300 wH at boost. That's plenty for boiling a water in regular size stockpot or dutch oven but it will be a couple of minutes slower than with the Frigidaire. On the other hand, do you have any interest in cooking on a rectangular griddle for pancakes, etc? I'm talking about something like the Lodge 10"x20" cast-iron grill/griddle plate or the 14" x 23" ChefKing carbon steel griddle. The Samsung NE597 is specifically set-up to do this but the Frigidaire manual specifically forbids it. Some people really like these things while others have no interest in them, at all. The stoves also have difference between their convection operations. The Samsung uses three convection fans in the oven along with an 800 wH burner element (so called "true" convection) while the Frigidaire uses a plain fan. In CR's baking evenness tests (for which I recall reading somewhere that they do not use the convection features) the Samsung electric range ovens get very-good to excellent ratings while Figidiare electric range ovens get very good ratings for baking evenness. It theory, Samsung's extra fans and the heating element could make some difference in evenness some baking tasks, mainly baking multiple racks of sugar cookies without having to check and swap pans. Otherwise, my experience in comparing third-element-induction from major manufacturers is that it does not make much noticeable difference. There are a couple of extra features that you get from the Samsung oven, though. One is that the third element allows you to run the Samsung oven at 150F. This can be useful for things like dehydrating. Most major brand ovens won't go less than 170F and that is true of the Frigidaire in this instance. Second, the Samsung convection can be run at low temps (say 100F) for defrosting frozen items (although many people would find the microwave more convenient) or for proofing bread (although I've always just turned on the oven light and not had to bother with the fan running). I took a brief pass through the Samsung and Frigidaire manuals and noticed a lot of similarities. Besides that annoying chicken nuggets button, they seem to use a lot of the same illustrations on pan positioning. Makes me wonder if there is some outsourcing here. Reliability and warranty support are unknowns. You can find plenty of complaints about both companies. The only systematic data I can find, which is CR's annual membership surveys on reliability, do not provide much help here. Frigidaire electric stoves seem to run about mid pack with a 10% problem rate on electric stoves purchased from 2007 to 2012. But, there is no report on Samsung, probably because it apparently did not sell enough electric stoves to CR members to provide reportable data. That about exhausts what I could see as differences between the stoves. Have fun making up your mind.