As far as my research showed me, every induction cooktop has a slight hum to them. I personally tried three different ones (Monogram, Miele and Electrolux) and someone else here confirmed a fourth (Thermador). It does get louder the higher (hotter) you turn the hob. However, at the lower (non-boil or non-sear) settings it is really not audible given the sound of a vent hood on low. It also depends greatly on the sensitivity of your own ears. I tried the Miele one at a girlfriend's house and I could hear it but she never had in the 6 months she has had it:) We are getting the 36" Monogram induction cooktop... ordering in two weeks or so. Good luck!

I have the GE Profile 30 inch induction cook-top and I love it. Clean-up is a breeze and the control is amazing. The burner configuration is good for my purposes as well. Yes, there is a 12-inch recommendation between the bottom of the cook-top and any combustible surface, but what I have below the top is two 15-inch pan drawers. That has worked out very well. (Nothing in the drawer directly below the cook-top ever seems to get hot, by the way. But I guess GE is just super cautious.) I was told that the Monogram and the Profile Induction Cook-tops are the same as far as the workings--they just differ in trim and price. Whether that is true, I don't know. But I wanted the one with-out any stainless trim anyway.

I cannot picture " some sheet metal".... So I can't tell you if something is safe to cut off or not and I don't think anybody else well either. Did you review the manual to see if the rim had any function other then decorative?

Haley, I did end up buying the GE Café Induction cooktop just last year when the only feedback I found was this very thread. Since there wasn’t much data then, I based my decision on my last experience with GE and former cooktop. I LOVE THIS COOKTOP! I didn’t care for the layout of most others nor the fact that many of them used shared controllers for all burners which I still don’t get - when I’m bustling around the kitchen, I don’t want to be fumbling though the controls to quickly tend to a burner. I find the layout to be most efficient and useful for my needs. I like each burner has its own control. The slide controls are pretty slick although, not gonna lie, with a wet finger, the slider doesn’t completely respond but luckily there are the manual up/down buttons that do work. It brings water to a boil in about a minute. It has the two bridging burners for my cast iron griddle purposes. I find I don’t use it as much since the middle section does not heat up (where it did on my last GE cooktop which was not induction). However, Rudi does make a good point – it’s nice to have cooler zones.) The cooktop does come with a stainless steel clad aluminum griddle which does work pretty well on the bridge. The cooktop is easy to clean (I use a little Bon Ami or Bar Keepers to light scrub only when necessary) and looks beautiful. It doesn’t take much to make her sparkle! I have no scratches to speak of (outside of those caused by the tile samples a dear loved one set on top and shuffled around, which made me want to cry…) It can be noisier than standard cooktops at times but if I recall from my research last year, that’s induction (period). I do like the timer function. At first I thought it was such a silly feature when my oven timer was right there. Let me tell you I now use the built-in timer ALL. THE. TIME. We won’t discuss that I’m just now realizing it can be set for each burner! I’ll have to try that. I’m still not sure what the variances between the Monogram and Café are worth the dollar difference. Sure, the color of the Monogram is cool but that alone is not worth the price difference in my opinion. I spend a lot of time in my kitchen and this is definitely my favorite thing! It’s also one of the most expensive items in my kitchen but completely worth every penny to me.