Check out the appliance forum on this site - lots of personal experience with appliances - more emphasis on high-end appliances though. People have mixed feelings about CR - they tend to focus on budget/value appliances and seem down on high end appliances.

The appliance forum is running a bit slow, so, I thought I'd try here. And even though this will be the kitchen of our dreams, we are trying not to dream of budget-busting high end appliances.

Hoping to find mid-level exciting appliances.

Suzanne

Suzanne, some of our husbands have a 'change of heart' before spending the money on a kitchen remodel...yours had a change of heart...literally!! Wow!

When I was gathering my appliance information, I spent a lot of time online, looking at various remodeling and cooking forums (like GW!). The information can be really overwhelming and the opinions on the exact same product can vary wildly! In the end, you just have to find the best value for your money with the features that YOU are looking for...not someone else. Narrow it down to a few in each category (range, dishwasher, etc) and then ask for opinions/experiences.

I purchased my GE Advantium oven on eBay and I also purchased my NXR range through Dvorson's (marinrestaurantsupply.com...love them!) sight-unseen. It is quite nerve-wracking. I really enjoy shopping locally sooo much more but sometimes can't justify the cost difference or, in the case of the range, it wasn't available locally.

Lowes 'price-matched plus 10%' when I approached them with the online prices for my new Kitchen-aid dw. My local high-end-brands appliance store would not negotiate on anything but GE products...I guess the rest of the brands are 'price-locked' (which is a real turnoff for me).

I chose a gas range and then added the Advantium instead of a double oven. The Advantium is a micro/convection/speedcook product and, although I haven't really tried all of its features yet, this setup will work out well for our family.

Hope this helps!

Sandy

I have had the whirlpool Velos convection/micro for a few years now and love it because it takes full casserole dishes and still has room to rotate and itÂs loaded with other features. ItÂs a big honker though but does get used at least seven times a day. We have a kitchen aid ss slide-in range thatÂs ok, I had problems with it in the beginning but it now works fine except it takes forever to preheat. When this range goes I will get another slide-in range because I prefer the more streamline look but doubt I will buy a KA range. Also have an upper mid line Kitchen aid dishwasher that I love and I love my new counter depth kitchen aid French door refrigerator. The only thing that bugs me a bit with the new frig is that the lunchmeat flip up door seems a bit flimsy for my family (hope it lasts)Âother than that love it.
I bought most appliances at brandsmart or best buy. After I decided what I wanted I compared prices to all stores in my county that carried my picks and then went back to Brandsmart & bestbuy and negotiated the lowest price.

Appliance hunting can be both fun and a pain in the rear. I did a lot of internet browsing to check prices and peoples' experience with particular appliances. I tried to look at as many things in person as possible. Sometimes seeing something in real life can change your mind about what you want. I took a chance and purchased my double oven and dw from an ebay company. Got my convection microwave from buy.com, purchased my induction cooktop from Sears online. We picked out our refrigerator at a Sears store since our old one died on us and we needed a new one asap. The ovens, dw and cooktop are still in the boxes until the remodel is done which causes me a little concern since my one year warranty won't have a full year by the time I actually start using them. I actually purchased a double oven on ebay-brand new-for less money than I was going to spend on a very similar single oven. I just couldn't pass it up. Hopefully everything will work just fine. Be sure to make notes when you are shopping. Get the exact model numbers down and don't be afraid to ask if you can get a better price. The worst they can say is "no" but they might take some money off. Sorry this has gotten a little long winded. In the end, I found that my choices were narrowed as much by the look of an appliance as by the cost and features. You just start to find yourself drawn to a particular brand or model, at least I did. Good luck.

Agree with others that the research can be overwhelming, and feels like you can go wrong no matter what you decide. We were making our final choices between Thanksgiving and Christmas when a lot of appliances were getting a good work out, and the forums were full of (sometimes panicked!) traffic about ovens blowing up and dishes not getting clean or dishwashers leaking and so forth. To that point we had been big CR fans and were leaning heavily toward their recommendations (had been our main source for about every major purchase we've ever made), but lots of top-rated appliances did not sound like they were worthy of the ratings when put to the tests of holiday cooking! After a few late nights on GW and other online research DH and I were panicked ourselves and started over. We bit the budget bullet and decided to go with Miele, because there was hardly a complaint about them anywhere (and if there was, their Cust Svs received raves).

We've only been in our new kitchen for about a month, but I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Miele appliances...especially the Optima DW. It's SO quiet DH has already opened the door 3x while it's been running because you can't hear a thing.

So that's what the online reviews did for us! Hoping we made the right choice to invest more upfront in appliances that will last many more years, therefore paying for themselves in the long run (that's the plan anyhow!)

Good luck with your project.

Agree with the you and the others that appliance shopping is tough. One thing I would say is that you shouldn't feel that you have to buy a suite of appliances from one company, unless matching them is important to you. Each company seems to excel at different appliances, so just pick the best of the best (Miele might be an exception - folks on the appliance forum seem really happy with most / all Miele products, but they are pricey). There is some good info about brands on the appliance forum so do a search there (google search works much better than the search provided by gardenweb).

I found that the unhappy people post more often then the happy people, so you can't find any appliances that get rave reviews. I looked for consistency in the negative reviews - if only one person had a particular problem, it didn't concern me too much, but if many did, I avoided that appliance.

We purchased our DW and range online. We got the DW from 'buyers edge' and wouldn't recommend them. We didn't have any trouble with them, but got a hard-sell phone call after we ordered trying to get us to upgrade to white glove delivery and add an extended policy, both of which I declined. They told me that without white glove the appliance would be delivered to the end of the driveway, but the delivery guy brought it in the house for me. The delivery service was a little unprofessional: an older guy, not in good shape, with the DW in a van and a trolley cart with a flat tire. But it worked out.

We got the range from AJ Madison, and that was fine. It was the brand new Electrolux induction range which I ordered as soon as it was announced, before E'lux was actually shipping them. I called AJ Madison cust service several times to get a status and shipping date - they were great and very helpful every time.

I was not able to get Lowe's to do the price match + 10% off thing for online prices, but others have. They did do it for the local store prices, though. We were very happy with Lowes, but maybe we just have an unusually knowledgeable appliance guy there? And you don't have to pay sales tax online, which adds up.

Our appliances aren't installed yet, but we got an anvantium 120 over-the-range MW and are looking forward to trying it out.

You don't say what fuel you are planning for your cooktop/range. Consider induction, although you may need new pots and pans.

Lots of luck!

Well, we went through Home Depot and got a good deal because we bought all four appliances at once (DW, MW, range, fridge). We mixed and matched brands because we could see the S/S finishes in person and we knew there wouldn't be a problem. That said, I bought hastily, saved a lot, and our remodel started later than we thought it would. That's when I started reading refrigerator reviews and I got scared to death with the level of disgust among LG users! I went back to HD and asked them, "Is this refrigerator going to burn my house down? Why would you guys sell me an awful fridge? Have you read these reviews?"

The salesman went through the two websites I mentioned while I stood there. He did an extensive search, and found out that LG had addressed the problem a year ago. Needless to say, I was relieved. The refrigerator has been fine. The DW is also LG, and I'm not too impressed, although it's nice and quiet. Love the Maytag Gemini range and our OTR MW by GE/Profile. It's also a convection, so I have three baking areas altogether.

Reading reviews will make you nutty. Having a "go-to" person at the appliance store is a must. My main regret is that, in order to save time and money, I bought in haste. I wish we'd gone with higher-end appliances now, but I figure we'll be replacing them anyway, because few seem to last like they used to. Good luck!

I shopped and researched till my head spun, and in the end, after making my appliance choices, I decided to buy locally. It depends on which appliances you're looking at, but my choices, Miele and Electrolux had prices that are the same no matter where you find them. Pricing being pretty much the same, I felt better having a reputable local dealer to contact if something went wrong. I waited for a 10% rebate sale on the Electrolux appliances, and I purchased my Miele induction cooktop before the price increase earlier this year, but that was the best I could do. Don't hesitate to shop the 'bargain rooms' for at your local stores! I had decided to compromise with a less expensive dishwasher, when one day I cruised through the 'returns/scratch/dent' room of my local store and lo and behold, there sat a Miele Inspira, gleaming and perfect. Someone had ordered it, and on delivery found that they hadn't wired in the required receptical for it, so they returned it in disgust. Their lack of planning saved me about 50%, and I'm still tickled pink about it.

I chose to get two ovens rather than an oven and a convection microwave. I don't use our microwave for anything but thawing things and rewarming leftovers, and the kids use it for snacks. I wanted my ovens to be the same so that I could have bread going in the top oven and my roast/turkey/pie/whatever going in the other one with no waiting for the 'real' oven. I also plan to use one as a warming oven when needed, and I didn't see the microwave being useful to me, personally. However, everyone cooks differently, so you need to make the choices that are right for you.

Take care, and have fun,
Cj

If you get a MW/Convection oven as your second oven, you still only have one oven at times b/c when you're using the MW/Convection as a MW, you don't have access to it as a second oven. For us, that was not an option b/c we frequently make veggies, etc. in it while using the ovens.

We chose to go with GE Profile Trivection Double Ovens plus Sharp MW Drawer. In the double ovens, the top oven is Trivection, the bottom is convection.

The Trivection is a speed oven and can be used in Speed Cook (bake or broil), Convection (single-rack, multi-rack, roast), "regular" (bake or broil), or Warm(er) (both to warm things up and to keep things warm) modes.

The lower oven can be used in Convection (single-rack, multi-rack, roast), "regular" (bake or broil), or Warm(er) (both to warm things up and to keep things warm) modes.