I'll link an old thread, which is one of the best summaries I've seen of the differences between pull-down and pull-out faucets. The choice is somewhat a matter of personal preference, and also the situation in your kitchen. I.e. if you have a cabinet that is over your sink without a lot of headroom, you likely don't want a tall pull-down. Conversely, if your sink is in front of a big window, a tall pull-down will look great. That kind of thing. I myself prefer the pull-out faucet, because I don't like to have to reach toward the back of the sink for a pull-down faucet, but many people prefer the pull-down and that doesn't bother them whatsoever. You absolutely must go to a showroom with faucets on display, preferably some that are actually connected up to water, and handle them, and see what you like. As to side spray, I do not like them. The water pressure is not as strong as the sprayer that is integrated in a faucet, you always have to hold down the lever to keep it on spray, and it's one more thing to clean around. My plumber says that side sprayers are more prone to breakage than integrated sprayers. In your situation, you already have a hole cut-out for the side-sprayer, right? You could use it for a soap dispenser instead. Here is a link that might be useful: Thread about Pull-down vs. Pull-out Faucets

We don't find it to be a detriment. We chose our Grohe Ladylux Cafe because it felt good in our hands, and ergonomically seemed like it would work really well (e.g. size-wise, getting inside smaller pots and pans, and the tight corners of our sink). We didn't (still don't) LOVE the look of our faucet (they've since come out with a sleeker version), but for a kitchen workhorse, went with function over form. The need to hold down the spray button wasn't a big factor in that decision.

jellytoast, how do you like the Trinsic? - is the "flow" strong enough (at 1.8gpm, it's .4 gpm less than a similar Grohe model)? illini, the advantage to "pause" would be that when the spray hose is pulled out, you can't just lay it down to turn off the faucet or it will spray all over the place. You'd have to retract the hose first. With a pause button, you wouldn't have to do that. Not a big deal, but I can see the plusses.

I haven't bought my faucet yet. I'm using a $10 stop valve for now, and it's on a flexible bendable pipe that holds its shape (Kitec iPex). For my ideal faucet spray, I think I's like the spray wand to be a little "tip" at the end of the hose. I don't like large spray wands, even when I have pulled the hose farther out of the tube. I've tested out faucets in other people's kitchens and I've been to every showroom and hardware store within 50 miles. I think that, according to all who have one, a pull-down or pull-out spray is easy to use. It seems to me that people pull it out (or "down") most often to rinse off the side walls of the sink. I've observed people pulling the spray out a few inches for this. On web sites, manufacturers' videos seem to show me most often people pulling the spray out a long way in order to fill a vase on the counter next to the sink. (This doesn't make sense to me: I could just put the empty vase into my deep sink... besides, I only fill a vase once in a blue moon, but I rinse the sink out constantly.... oh well, who cares about "real" needs when we can fantasize about vases.) Pulling downwards is easier than any other movement because your arm's natural strength is highest when you only move it from up to down. Pulling it downwards is one straight movement, with a straight arm using the big flat muscle under your shoulder blade. (Like in swimming or in cross country skiing). It's technically harder to pull something outwards sideways as it requires several other muscles. It's harder for two reasons. One is that more muscles = more coordination. The other is that the muscles coordinated are the smaller ones. I have a vacuum cleaner with a hidden self-returning coiled spring loaded electrical wire (hope that is clear). The effort is weird sometimes pulling it out. A pull-OUT spray makes you pull sideways. Pulling it out the longest possible length reminds me of pulling out the vacuum cleaner electrical cord. Mind you, I would almost never have a reason to pull the hose out the longest possible amount. Pulling sideways has one other disadvantage: it puts more stress on the junction points where the faucet body meets the countertop hole or sink hole, and where the swiveling part of the body sits in the fixed part of the body. In a small faucet body this is insignificant, but the bigger the body the more the rocking. I think this explains why larger faucets are mostly configured to have a rounded tube at the top, so you pull downwards (straight down) more than outwards (towards you). Pulling downwards puts a physical stress on the faucet base that is mostly downwards, and that is not going to weaken the faucet body swivel joint or the bolted connection to the counter or sink. Pulling more towards the side forces the metal body to receive this side to side force more often, and it could lead to something loosening up. The Arwa Surf faucet seems to me to be a good compromise in terms of shape, if you don't want a long rounded top on a high faucet. Use "Arwa Surf " as key words for your web search if you want to see it the shape. All faucets are installed a few inches away from the sink wall, and they reach forward about 8 or 9 inches. I'll guess the query about it seeming "like it would collide with the front of the sink" is more about the spray shooting too far forward, and not about any collision when one pulls the spray out of the tube. A spray that shoots straight down or slightly forward is going to end up hitting the sink bottom. All faucets do this; they project the stream down onto the sink bottom, some a bit more forward than others. hth