I have both, a basic model Cuisinart made in Japan and a Robot Coupe made in France. Both vintage. Both machines are heavy duty and should be able to handle any duties required in the home. Interestingly the parts from the Cuisinart fit and work on the Robot Coupe but not vise-versa. I suggest that all parts and blades be washed by hand. Do not place these parts in the dishwasher. The heat of the dishwasher drying mode will weaken the plastic of the parts. Also be careful when twisting the lid on and off the bowl to prevent the locking/power engagement pin from breaking. Most importantly DON'T DROP IT! If you have a machine with a malfunctioning locking/power engagement pin you could manually depress the button using a pen or knitting needle. Be careful though as you no longer have the safety measures of the power engagement pin to protect you. The question about 3D printing your own bowl....This is not a viable solution for many reasons including: the plastic used has to be food safe. The bowl needs to be strong enough to handle the torque and stress of day to day use. And the plastic needs to be able to handle heat especially if you use the machine to puree hot items. Finding parts for these machines is difficult. Take good care of them and you should be enjoying your smoothies etc. For many many years. Happy cooking!

Hi, April. I also got the KA FP 770 in the brushed nickel. The 760 is the same, but not in a nickel finish (does come in black and white and maybe other finishes). The 760 can definitely be found for under $200 - probably $160-$180 range if you check amazon, or use coupons for LNT or BBB. I thought I'd mention that I got my 770 for a very good price of $224 (with free shipping). I know that's over your $200 limit, but I thought I'd mention it in case you liked the nickel finish. Usually I see this for over $250. One day I pulled up a special price at ABT electronics (I did a search on froogle) - when I went to their sight the price was listed as $224 (lower than what froogle said). While that price was no longer in print when I ordered, I called them up and they said they would give me that price. So for you or others who want that brushed nickel, this was the best price I found. I've only just started using my FP (and can't compare it to a Cuisinart), but i do really like it. Very heavy, but incredibly quiet, and nice, sharp cutting - doesn't pulverize the food.

I've been reading all your excellent comments to my DH, and I think you've convinced us! He especially agreed with Nancy's comment "Get a good one and you'll even be happier." A *good* hand grater might be all I really need, but then the price differential is smaller. And an FP is so much more versatile; I didn't realize it could be used for so many different tasks. Also, I've been thinking for a while about baking bread again. I haven't done it since before the kids were born (and the older one is turning 35 next week!). I used to enjoy kneading the dough by hand ... but I'm not such an Earth Mother wannabe nowadays, and I have different goals now (i.e., the food, not the image). I have a small electric food chopper, but it can't handle large volumes, and, of course, it can't do anything but chop and puree. My biggest hesitation, aside from the cost, is that I do cook in fairly small quantities. Would I really use the FP to chop one onion or mince one clove of garlic? But Linda makes a good point about convenience, and the dishwasher would make cleanup very easy. Also, an FP would have a permanent home on the kitchen counter and would be right there when I needed it. The biggest draw for me is that it would overcome the frequent frustration of finding a promising recipe and then giving up on it because I couldn't handle all the food prep manually. There are so many dishes I'd like to try! Thanks, everybody, for all the good "selling points." p.s. Thanks, Linda, for the link, too. That Cuisinart sounds like a good choice, but I'll have to check out the competition, too. Sue

A FP like that mostly uses a direct drive "squirrel cage" induction motor. A motor like that is a very simple electrical device. It has magnetic field coils driving a center non-electrical rotor. And the coils are connected to switches and other contacts.. If the coils get burnt out from overloading, you will for sure smell it. Still, if you have an ohm meter, you can quickly check continuity. The components which can go wrong are mostly the switches, which can easily be checked with an ohm meter. Replacing switches can be inexpensive. If the motor's coil is burnt, it cannot be repaired. The whole motor will need to be replaced, which may cost more than buying a new FP. I suspect the problem might be a rusty switch or contacts, and not the motor. dcarch