Carolfa, I have the Swanstone Ascend. It's a great sink if you really need something large, but here's the downside. It's really deep. I find the depth to be less comfortable for washing dishes. It takes alot of water to fill the sink and because it's large, the water cools quickly. I almost always end up using a small dishpan in it. The upside is that you can put a ton of stuff in it until you're ready to load the dishwasher and the shelf is a nice place to drain a few items. If you actually use the sink to wash dishes, the wash water will splash onto the stuff that's draining. Having said all that, I will say I like the sink, but I'm not crazy about it. It's deep enough and large enough that I can wash anything (including my kitchen trash cans) in it. It's a great sink if you really need that much sink, and the Granite composite seems to be easy to clean and durable without the hardness of enamel. Incidentally, I bought mine on ebay and got a very good deal.

The "other thread" mentioned above shows our sink. It's made by Julien & was welded into the stainless steel countertop. We have a dishwasher installed on each side of this sink, connected to the Insinkerator Evolution batch disposal, so it doesn't matter which side the drain is on. Having the drain in a rear corner has really been useful. Our disposal & hot water dispenser are installed on the left side, which frees the right side for a full size pullout for cleaning supplies. (Others might want a trash pullout here.) The sink has split grids, so we can pull one out or do rinsing while using the other side for something completely different.

Probably a little late to comment, but just about rear drains and disposals - I have a big, honkin' Kitchenaid batch feed disposal; it's one of the largest disposals on the market. I also have a rear drain. There was no problem installing it. But I think it depends on each individual set-up. Perhaps Tko_in_Fl's sink is in such a position that it wouldn't fit a disposal with a rear drain, while mine would. I think her KD shouldn't have made such a broad generalization, unless he/she was just talking about Tko_in_Fl's particular set-up. It looks like Tko_in_Fl realized that, and I think it's a great idea to check out her setup and measurements herself - the KD is not always right, as we have seen reported on this Forum several times. BTW, my sink is 9" deep, plus the countertop, and I have never felt it was too deep. Although I am a neatnik, and keep the sink pretty much empty most of the time, on those times when I have pots soaking, I am glad not to be able to see them. We have an eat-in kitchen, and I wouldn't like to see some greasy stock pot soaking in the sink while I am trying to drink my morning coffee! So the deeper sink prevents that. But I have read on this forum that taller people may find deep sinks fatigueing. No one in my family has had that problem, but I am really the only one to spend a lot of time in front of the sink, and I am 5'3", and have never found the deep sink a problem. The only comment I have about the brands in the subject thread is that the Franke is a shinier finish than the Kindred or Blanco which are more brushed. The shinier finish is very pretty, but will show the scratches more glaringly, until it develops a "patina", which could take some months. But a lot of people prefer the shinier finish, it's personal taste.

I looked up the Profi Star. It is small but does it ever have some neat accessories and they are included. I also like the graters (extra) Where do you get it from? I couldn't find anybody but I didn't look that hard. We are in the same boat. I'm between the Franke and Elkay mystic 3021B6. The Franke accessories really up the price of it.