I'm probably not the best one to respond, as I have only used a 6 quart Presto (stainless) and I like it so well that I have not looked into the more modern versions from Europe.
This Presto was my Mother's (died in 1987) and she had it for years. Since there are just 2 of us, and you can't fill it more than 2/3 full, it is a great size.
While more a cooking technique than anything to do with the cooker, I love Miss Vickie's suggestion of the "PIP" cooking of smaller amounts of food and particularly rice and beans. Her cookbook is also great. It has the best scalloped potato recipe in it done in 5 or 10 minutes.
Don't know if you are familiar with PIP, but it is just a strip of foil in the bottom of the cooker with a stainless steel bowl over that. Depending on what you are cooking, you may cover it with foil. Miss Vickie has all cooking times in her cookbook and on her website.
For the two of us, a cup of rice or beans will be done in minutes. You lift the stainless bowl out with the strip of foil and it is ready to serve or fluff (rice). For small quantities of food, it also means that the bottom won't burn (if I bought a new one, it would have a thicker bottom than my old 6 quart Presto)and I don't even have the pot to wash (well, maybe just a little). My wife likes her rice done in the PIP method better than any other way.
Well, that is my 2 cents worth. I think others will provide you info on more modern alternatives.
Jim in So. Calif.

Same here - only use the Presto and Mirro models so can't comment on those other brands. Can't beat the Presto ones IMO - we have a 6 qt Presto and an Mirro 8 qt we use all the time for cooking and the 23 qt Presto comes in handy for really large roasts or briskets.

I tend to be a bit suspicious of the Fagor brand only because they make some claims about their cookers that aren't safe to make IMO - like you can use them for canning - they aren't large enough to qualify as a canner.

Dave

I have Fagor and Kuhn-Rikon pc's. Both are excellent brands, but Fagor is much the better value of the two. You can find Fagor with 20% off coupons at places like Bed, Bath & Beyond.

I do agree that I wouldn't trust Fagor's canning recommendations, but since you're not looking for a canner, I don't see a problem with buying one.

I wouldn't recommend a Mirro because the company has gone through several changes of ownership and I would be concerned about future parts availability.

Presto has been around forever. If you want a less expensive stainless PC, that can also be good value and you know parts should not be an issue.

You might check out Miss Vickie's recommendations online. Regardless of whether you choose the brands I mentioned, her site provides a wealth of information on pressure cookers, the pros and cons, as well as a lot of recipes, etc.

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: Miss Vickie's PC Recommendations

I have a 8 qt presto and seems to work fine definatly considering the cost I think we got it on sale a while back at the hardware for 30 dollars

Thats another thing with a presto almost every hardware store carries parts for them or can order them