Hi Peter-- Thank you for your note. Yes, I have read about your experience--unfortunately, not until after I had already ordered my machine. (I was active on the Forum last fall, then decided to come back and post my review as one always wonders what happened to people and what they decided and how it worked out) It was then that I read your posts. What a nightmare, indeed! I am hoping that if I need service, Best Buy will come through for me. I chose Best Buy because I noticed that they had a lot of LG machines on the floor--washers, dryers, refrigerators. Using Laudry Forum advice, I asked the manager of large appliances: do you have experienced repair people for LG? He looked surprised and said: Yes, of course. LG is one of our biggest sellers and so we have a support system in place. That reassured me. I hope I don't rue my trust. In any case, I do hope that you find a good replacement machine. I did not respond to your post asking for suggestions because I don't have much to offer. I just know that I was going to go with Thor, but Thor, it seems, was even worse than LG; see my post last fall in the Combo Washer/Dryer thread. No response to my email, and when I actually called, they were annoyed and could never give me a single name of a single repairman. And I live in Chicago! Come on! The Askos scare me bec. of report of leaks from them. Equator seems kind of cheap. Maybe Bosch or Miele for you? MMK

Eleena, I am sorry, I seem to have been optimistic in my earlier report on the price. Let me explain. I paid $15/sq. ft for the raw materials. (This was a 50% off sale from M. Teixeira's usual price of $30.) Shipping added another $10/sq. ft. to the price of the raw materials, so that comes to about $25/sq. ft. However, that is for the raw slabs. Obviously, I had to buy more square footage than my actual countertop area. After factoring in the reduced area, my price was about $36/sq. ft. of installed countertop. Finally, there was labor. I did almost all of the fabrication myself, but there is no way I could possibly carry the slabs to install them. I "hired" some friends and their young son to help carry them to the fabrication spot for the cost of a nice dinner. I also had to pay some other young'uns to carry the slabs into the kitchen after fabrication. So these labor costs bumped my total costs up to just over $40/sq. ft. I apologize for misleading with my selective memory!

A German company, Schott Ceran, makes a proprietary scratch resistant “ Ceran” cooktop. Miradur and Luminoir are two of their proprietary products. In addition to their own products, they also partner with Bosch, Miele and some other brands that provide this cooktop. My Jenn Air electric range is 23 years old. It has a Ceran cooktop that has held up beautifully and still looks amazing. Unfortunately, I must now replace the range. My research shows that Ceran is only available now on high end luxury brands. Jenn Air is now owned by Whirlpool. So far, I find no reference to Ceran still being used for the new Jenn Air cooktops. I’m seeing reviews on many name brand ranges indicating low quality finishes that peel or rub off, faulty components, inadequate self cleaning features, unpredictable temperature variations and limited customer service. I try to find reviews from customers who have had their new range long enough to experience the real result; not just the beautiful new range in the kitchen. I’m very discouraged in my quest for a new electric slide in range. In our household, the range gets a lot of use. It is a major consideration. I don’t want to replace it again in a few years. Looks like I may have to commit to a far more expensive purchase than originally planned in order to get the cooktop and more reliable features I need.

If you want a "heat proof countertop" buy Stainless Steel. Otherwise use a heat trivet. As far as manufacturers of S.S. - LG is a good product very similar in make up from what I can tell but they do not guarantee the installation where as DuPont does. In other words, if your fabricator screws up your installation with LG Hi-Macs you are out of luck because they do not "guarantee" their fabricators work. If on the other hand your "licensed" fabricator from DuPont screws up on your installation, DuPont will cover the problem. You can make sure your fabricator is a licensed "CFI" (Certified Fabricator Installer) by going to DuPonts Corian website or by calling 8004CORIAN. The big issue on this is around the seams in the countertop. DuPont covers them, LG does not. Not trying to say one product is better than another. If you need to save a few bucks by all means look at the imported S.S. Just make sure your fabricator knows what they are doing because the manufacturer doesn't have any "investment" in that regards. P.S. Granite shouldn't crack from heat but when you place a hot pot onto sealed granite it breaks down the sealer and then you can get a stain which is not easily removed if it can be removed at all. Therefore you should always use a trivet. P.S.S. I have also seen Quartz products damaged from heat exposure. It can become "whitened" and once that happens it is permanent.