I have to admit that the reason we have the Miele speed oven in the first place is that it matched up so nicely appearance-wise with our coffee system. The pair looked nice together and we knew we wanted the microwave off the counter in the wall somewhere. I really didn't think too much about the other capabilities of the thing. Now that I have had it for a few months I would not willingly go back to a plain microwave. Essentially, it has become the go to oven for small meal preparation. I only turn on the big oven when I have lots of items to bake/roast or when I specifically desire a traditional oven with the heat source underneath the food (pizza is a good example of this, homemade pizza requires hot stones for optimal crust development and higher baking temperatures than the speed oven can maintain.) But other stuff, casseroles, broiled chicken or fish, snacks, anything that fits in the thing goes in the speed oven. It doesn't heat up the house as much and it gets stuff done pretty quickly. And if you really want to see where the speed oven shines, you should try one the next time you bake a pan of brownies. The convection is SO good and the baking so uniform and free of hotspots that you will end up with the nicest pan of brownies you ever made. No burned corners, no black edges, just perfect brownies in 30 minutes (ten minutes less than in a standard oven according to recipe) at 325º in convection bake mode. So I would have to say I would buy it again if I had to. I certainly would not want to go back to just a plain old microwave, that's for sure.

yeah, it makes sense that someone somewhere once melted butter.... and it makes sense that some people think of heat under a countertop as the Strong strong heat you can get under heated buffet serving counters. This thread does not say that heating the counter would make it necessarily that hot. Let's make a distinction. -- Of course, it's a luxury, but let no-one be lulled into thinking that because it's soapstone it will be warm, or warmer than granite, or that it will feel warm. This is the situation: ".... The island is large and will be the main place for breakfast, lunch, snacks, homework, general hangout and we'll probably sit there when working on the laptop. I live in Nova Scotia..." Hth

We had a combo unit, and one did experience an early demise. We were a little annoyed with the extra expense of buying another combo unit however what we discovered is that would have been a deal compared to what actually happened. Nothing on the market at that time would fit the cabinet we had, so we needed to replace that tall cabinet. Matching existing cabinetry is difficult, and we were getting no help there. In the end, the dead appliance morphed into a complete kitchen remodel. This time, we're doing our ovens as separate units, and we're making sure that the oven stack is made with separate components, so that they could be unassembled and remade in another size. What we had before was one tall cabinet, floor to ceiling, that was impossible to alter without destroying it because of the way it was constructed.

I had the exact same dilemma as the OP. We opted to go with the speed oven over a regular microwave which is located under my combi steam. We also have the M touch wall oven with moisture plus. With the two of us - we use the speed oven quite frequently in conjunction with the combi steam as it heats quickly and has full oven capability. This allows us to avoid heating the large oven for just one dish. We have used the speed function a handful of times and it works well but speed cooking is not something we have a need for at this point in our lives. I can also use it as a "warming" drawer if needed. It depends on your budget and if you want to spend the extra $$, but we are happy we went with the speed instead of a microwave.