I can chime in and say kudos for the Gagg oven choice and the Miele dishwasher, we have them too! Love the ovens, they are a dream to use and beautiful to look at!!! We also have the Sharp MW and love it. Make sure you order the model with automatic door open/close. Good luck!

Depending on type of water you have, the machine's life becomes as short as 4 years. I think hard water is well, "hard" on it :). I did a quick search here and the very first hit shows this: http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/appl/msg01021911334.html "I have installed 3 of these units (two of the most expensive Insinkerators and one other brand that I can't remember) over the years. Every one of them has broken within 2 years of the installation, so I would stick with the microwave heating option unless you like non-functional instant hot water units sticking through your granite countertops. My installations were all in the SoCal area, where the water has a lot of minerals in it, so the dispenser's longevity MIGHT improve if you live in a soft water area. I would spend my money on something else, though." Everytime I read a thread, there are comments like above, including people who have taken them apart and found less than pleasant inside. Of course, keep in mind that all of this is second hand info. Ours is still working although it doesn't hardly get any use and our water is not hard. Here is a link that might be useful: instant hot issues

I'm wavering between the NIT 800 series and the NITP Benchmark series also. The only difference that I can see is that Benchmark has the flex induction for $500 more and requires a 50 amp circuit instead of 30A. Both recognize and adjust to different pot sizes ("Pot Sense") and both have shut off timers for each individual hob. Combining two hobs to form a single larger heating surface seems kinda cool. However, I have grill and griddle inserts to replace two burners as a single surface and didn't use them (other than for additional counter space) after the novelty wore off. Which was quickly. My sister and her husband used her griddle and grill inserts a lot when they had 4 children at home. After that, eventually never. If I confirm that the only difference is flex induction, then I'm going to save myself $500.

Hello jdsb2 - - what did you end up deciding to do? I find myself in what may be a very similar situation today. I purchased a home a year ago with Gaggenau appliances... 12" deepfyer (that i switched to a 12" electric grill), 24" electric cooktop, 12" single gas burner.... those are approx - in total, its actually only 47".... Being that Gaggenau are such high end appliances, i gave it a year with the electric cooktop, and i just can't stand it anymore... so i want to make a switch. Similar to you, i LOVE using my outdoor blackstone griddle, so i've been wanting to bring that experience indoors... In a separate thread, i've discussed having the granite cut out larger and putting two 30" gas cooktops in, placing a large griddle over the majority (or all) of one of the cooktops.... however, many recommendations have been to put induction in... so naturally, i'm wondering if i should put a 30" gas next to a 30" induction... and put the 30" griddle on the gas side... My concern is whether this will look a bit goofy... so if you finalized somethign similar, i was hoping you'd have some comments and/or pictures you could share?? p.s. i guess i could do two 30" induction cooktops and put the griddle on one of them... but i am VERY hesitant to eliminate gas altogether... and not sure if that'll work correctly with the induction.