The GE Cafe range is free standing, but the controls are on the front, w/ no back splash, so it really is a hybrid. Basically, just doesn't have the side strips to cover the counter top edges. Really a nice looking unit. May go that way myself.

Hi Kayla - overall I like the dual fuel range. My husband loves the digital meat thermometer that came with it and we've made the best prime rib roasts since we've gotten this oven. The pre-heat does take awhile but we've gotten used to it. I've made cookies and they turn out great. We have also started using the lower oven more if we're baking something in a shallow dish, frozen garlic bread, rolls and etc. because it doesn't take as long to heat up. We've used the griddle to make sandwiches and pancakes and I'm happy with how that works and the easy clean up. I would say the stove top is easy to scratch if you aren't careful when you clean around the burners. Make sure you lift the grates up, off and set aside to clean and not just lift the front of the grates so you can wipe underneath. You'll scratch the little raised lip on the back of the stove top with the burner grates. I'm still not crazy about the overall height of the stove top but that's not really a fault. My husband on the other hand (6'2" tall) LOVES the dual range and all of it's features. He would highly recommend it to everyone. I like it. We also bought the matching over the range microwave. We bought it because you can bake in it and I thought we would really use that feature a lot but have found it takes a really long time to pre-heat the oven feature of the microwave and you have to use this little round raised baking rack which I have very few dishes that will fit, actually none now that I think about it. I thought it would be more like my old toaster/convection oven that sat on my counter top and it's really not at all. For the most part we just use the microwave to re-heat and warm things. I hope this helped

Strikeraj, below has been posted on a different thread. I copied it over here to make it easier for you to read. My oven is awful. There are hot spots all over the oven. The only way I can somewhat mitigate the hot spots is to use the convection setting. The repairman said it shouldn't have the hot spots but he couldn't figure out what was causing them. I told GE about the experiment with the bread. GE's assessment was "burns toast" I tried to explain that I didn't burn the toast, it was a test to determine where the hot spots were. The next time I called for service, I got, "oh, it burns your toast." AARRRGGGHHH!!! I finally ended up with a Consumer Advocate. He was about the most ineffectual "consumer advocate" I can imagine. His title should be "Consumer Placator." He didn't advocate crap! Plus, on more than one occasion he said he would look into something and call me back on a day certain. Then he would fail to call back. GE called with a "satisfaction survey." They asked on a scale of 1-10 how did I rate my GE appliance. I asked if they had negative numbers I could use! I am at the point of just eating the $3k and putting this POS on the curb. It is the one element of my new house that I absolutely HATE with a passion (can you tell?). Even DH, who is pretty laid back, is irritated at the lack of customer service. Last time I called, they told me that although the oven is still in warranty, I would have to pay for any more service calls dealing with this issue. I baked a cheesecake at Thanksgiving. ONE SIDE began to burn and crack before I noticed and turned the pan 180 degrees. If anyone on this forum knows of any way for me to get some action out of GE besides calling the service line, I would appreciate it. I did promise the "Consumer Advocate" that I would use every opportunity in every online outlet I could find to let the world know how awful their products are. I am keeping my promise.

Nope. I mean, sure, it won't melt the microwave, but as has been said before, OTR microwaves are dangerous just from being OTR and have woefully insufficient vents, especially if they're recirculating. And that's the good ones. :) What free means is that they have to give them away to get rid of them. :) To be fair, it is also possible that it's just a way of stimulating sales by giving a freebie, the way Thermador gives away dishwashers. Easier than doing a price reduction. People are a lot less sensitive to the end of a giveaway promotion than a return to regular price.