I can only speak to the Bosch which I've had for about 8 months. I'm happy with the oven, in particular the adjustability down to 100 deg. Yes I'm fairly well-versed in food safety, but sometimes you just need a big warming drawer. The 10-pass broiler is hot and even. The cooling fan does run a lot, but I don't find it offending in either noise or heat output. Less enthused with the cooktop. While the wattage specs on the highest burner are good, you need cookware with approx 11.5" base to utilize it. Your standard 8qt tall stock pot only takes two rings and is therefore dreadfully slow to boil on any burner. On the other end of the spectrum the low is higher than I'm used to. The Schott Ceran is significantly more sensitive than my previous Frigidaire. I had chips within weeks of using it, more now, the silver pattern seems to clean off, and in general I find it poor quality. The paint on the knobs peeled off at first cleaning; fortunately Bosch was aware of the problem and sent me a new set which has help up thus far. Overall, there's a lot to like about the oven but enough to dislike about the cooktop to where I wouldn't recommend it. My #1 takeaway would be to look for a power burner that matches the diameter of your most used cookware, in my case a 12" skillet and 8qt tall stock pot.

All these ranges are great, and they all have their idiosyncrasies. Capital, as an example have the most available features, offering large wok burners on top and self cleaning ovens below with a rotisserie if you want it. Infrared grills too. And a company that is responsive to their customers. Their one weakness is also a strength- they have 19K BTU burners. These burners go low enough if adjusted, the problem is the large circle of flames is not so great with a small pot. A small pot set on medium or higher and the flames go to the outside of the pot. The solution would be to have at lease one smaller burner with a smaller flame circle. But if you want high heat, you have to have more flame holes and that usually means a larger diameter circle, stacked or not. It's that simple. This is what Wolf and DCS do on their sealed burner ranges- 2 different burner sizes. They may also have a dual stage or stacked burner for simmer, but they still have two different burner caps. Wolf offers an open burner(on their All Gas) that is cute because it has a small cap within a second larger circle. But some people find the black porcelain bowls harder to clean. American doesn't use 'stacked' (or dual stage) burners, but has 3 different burner sizes. Even the small circle gets pretty hot when set on high. Bluestar doesn't use stacked burners either. But they have 3 burner sizes per range-and they do two things differently- the flames are directed straight up, and their medium (15K) and large (22K) BTU burners have eight fingers of flames (double rows on each finger of the 22K) going out from a small circle-and like I said, the flames shoot straight up, not out- so when you turn the thing on high, the flames aren't going to the outside of the pan ...also only the smallest burner is in a circle, the others are a circle with 8 fingers. A great design, but they have their problems too on occasion- see all the threads on this forum. And you certainly can't get self-cleaning or dual fuel with that brand.

I thought I wanted a slide-in for ease of cleaning, and ended up w/ a freestanding after all. Here's why. Maybe some of these thoughts will help you make your decision. -PRICE: at the time I bought, close to 3 years ago now, gas slide-ins were markedly more expensive than freestanding. To get a freestanding w/ a power burner & a simmer burner, I could spend $600. To get the same burners on a slide-in was almost twice that. (Electrics offer a much bigger selection of slide-ins, btw, and the price difference isn't so dramatic.) Prices on gas slide-ins have gotten better, or the selection has--this may not be as big a factor for someone buying now. -CLEANING: I read a post by someone who said that she had a hard time keeping the counter clean where the metal flange of the stove rested on the countertop. There's the teeniest crack there, and plus two surfaces come together at a right angle, so there's a tight little angle there. Gunk got in it. She had to use a toothpick to scrape it out. I decided that if I covered the gap w/ one of those metal strips, I could at least take the strip OFF and wash it, plus wash under it and around it. That has proved to be true. I do wish I would have found a freestanding w/ a lower "backsplash" thing. As to sliding a pot of water off the stove, across the counter, and over to the sink: I would think w/ a slide-in, this wouldn't necessarily be a level move anyway--are the tops of the burners of a slide-in level w/ the counter? I wouldn't think so; I'd think they'd be a tad higher, and that the stove's main surface would be level w/ the counter. see , which shows the burner grates MUCH higher than the counter. On perhaps the burner grates are level w/ the counter--but there's a gap, so wouldn't be easy. Be careful what counter material you're using--the pan coming directly from the burner could be hot enough to crack granite or melt Corian. The heights of these ranges is roughly the same as a freestanding--maybe fractions of an inch off. I've never NOT had a freestanding range; They're a very legitimate choice. (are you sure a slide-in's oven will be any smaller than a freestanding? I guess--4.1 to 5 cubic feet. I wonder why?)

Thank you all for your ideas. I tried to talk DD into induction b/c that is what I have and love. She wants to stick to the electric smoothtop b/c it will be less expensive and she thinks induction is still a niche market. When I chose induction it was for a variety of reasons---DH and I want to age in place and I think the induction has features that make it safer for older folks, the responsiveness of the burners, and the ease of cleanup. The ease of cleanup may be my favorite feature now. DH actually for the first time in over 30 years of marriage will clean up the cooktop without being poked with a sharp stick. Same for DS when he visits. DD likes the induction features but as she doesn't cook much she is fine with electric. Also, it's funny to watch DS and his techie friends play with the induction and think it is just the coolest gadget. DD and friends are sort of "meh" about it. Thus, DD thinks when resale time comes around for her that the extra money spent on induction won't be worth it. What does appeal to her about a slide in is the point xand83 makes about how pots and pans sit on rear burners. She hates how that happens on her current range and thinks that if she had small children she would want to use the rear burners more often but be limited spacewise. She is now thinking that if she pays more for the slide in that would be worth it. Buehl, thanks for the endorsement on the GE Profile. That's is the brand that DD thinks has most of the features she thinks are important. Do you have any trouble keeping the cooktop clean? My only experience with the black glass smoothtop was in a rental we were in for over a year due to the 2005 hurricane season wipeout of our house. I can't remember the brand---maybe a Whirlpool or a Maytag---but I struggled with that thing. Although it was basically brand new it never looked good to me and I'm not OCD but fairly careful about spills and cleaning regularly. Are all smoothtops created equal in cleanability?