I had a Monogram which is the same unit with the exception of not having a pan size sensor (which I don't truly get since its not like the "burner" gets hot). We were really happy with it from a performance standpoint. It, and induction all together, lived up to the hype. It was as fast as i had hoped, and it offered all of the control i was expecting. I had three nits though: 1) Cleaning our unit's controls would often cause the controls to beep and read "error". This happend even if the cooktop was locked. It was never a big deal, but it kinda annoyed my wife. 2) The user interface isn't as slick as some other units with a slide type control. Going from low to high means you have to put your finger on it and let it climb 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5 etc all the way to 10 (I know, first world problems right?). Some units now have a slide bar that works like an iPad. 3) We somehow got a scratch on the glass after only 6 months. It didn't affect performance, and neither my wife or I remember doing it. In the long run it wasn't a big deal either since it was just cosmetic. If I was going to rate it, it would easily be a 9 out of 10, and like I say, those were nits and nothing serious. I liked the fact that General Electric made the unit since they have a lot of experience making high voltage electric devices--I trust them more than some more "appliance-focused" companies who might not have as much experience in that neighborhood (personal opinion there though). We lost our house in a wildfire last summer or I wouldn't be talking about the stove in the past tense. This go around, we are doing a Thermador instead because we are going with a full package, but we considered doing GE again too. Good luck with your decision!

miele also has large center hob... i have it and love it...many GWers have this and also have good things to say about it. i do remember a post where a person was having a hard time with the touch on each hob but i think that's the only negative i've heard/read about it.... precise temps & easy to clean

I have this unit. It is a near clone of the Electrolux Icon induction cooktop. I don't have it in the kitchen yet, but it is set up in another room for testing and heating low effluent foods. Mine, purchased last December, works in all modes that I have tested (not exhaustive). It is much faster heating water than my electric burner coil range (soon to be a memory), or a radiant burner counterpart that a neighbor let me test. So far it has only made noise (and this noise is in the heated container -- a Deyemeyer kettle) when on power boost, and not at regular maximum level 9. Heating a couple of quarts of water for tea doesn't even motivate its fan cooling system. cpccarolyn's unfortunate mom may have had an early model, or was just not able to find competent service. I believe a few others here have this cooktop without failures reported so far. As it is made by Electrolux with a slightly different edge trim design, one would want to look at the Electrolux reports to determine whether those are showing reliability problems. I haven't noticed any on this forum, unlike their refrigerators. The choice is mainly financial. The Kenmore, particularly when on sale, is available for well under $2k, whereas the products sold by higher end companies who might have longer included warranties are significantly more expensive. One can bet against Sears and buy the 5 year service plan. It is a modest cost, way under the cost difference of a Diva, for example. And it is, in its own way, a measure of Sears' estimate of reliability over 5 years. kas

Yes, we love it after a year. I do t know that I've ever used the bridging, but I do use boost for pasta water. The low settings are really low (melting chocolate without a double boiler) and high settings with boost are fast. Response time is such that if you over correct, you realize it pretty quickly. I tend to use the big burner in the center the most and it is also positioned for the best capture from the vent. I love the ease of cleanup even more than I thought I would. I have not even used the individual timers yet, because I never had them before and forget they are there, so I confess I don't actually know how! This is in a kitchen for 2 most of the time and we don't have a griddle for it. This summer, we had company and we're making BLTs for 6, so rather than get multiple skillets going, we just got out the electric griddle and used the cooktop as a counter, since it's under the hood. We could have gotten by with a 30 inch version and 4 burners, but just liked the little bit of extra elbow room for pot handles, I guess. Hope that helps!