Before you give up on the Gaggenau heavenly oven (the only one I'd have, damn the expense!), do check around for closeouts, scratch & dings, and other bargains. I'd do a well discounted scratched Gaggenau over just about anything else pristine.

Isn't the Fagor very small? The side opening is VERY nice, especially nowadays when so many of the ovens have doors that cover the whole unit rather than just the cavity. But unless you have "special needs" I don't think it's enough to swoon over. The thing about Gaggenau is the actual cooking part can't be beat (Miele is a close second).

But, then again, the oven is probably the least important. I've learned from experience that if it gets hot, you can cook and bake in it. It might be really annoying, but it'll work.

The side knobs are nice--the winp cooktop that came with my house had them. But also don't limit your options over the one feature. Look at what else is out there, try to find a showroom where there are some installed units so you can give them a whirl, and see if you really hate center knobs. Also, check out rangetops. With the front mounted knobs and the powerful burners, a rangetop might be the answer.

SubZero is worth the money for its type, but it's a fridge. Same was you want an oven that gets hot, you want a fridge that gets cold. If you want built-in, SubZero is good. You an also get less expensive built-ins. And there's a wide variety of counter depth fridges. SubZero has the new air filters that remove the ethylene gas (comes out of produce) that makes the produce go bad. People have reported 3 week old fresh broccoli. Other units also have good features. The week point (certainly with SZ, and also some other brands) tends to be the ice maker. If you live in a SubZero neighborhood there is some resale value in it, but there are lots of good choices that cost less. Most important is the interior layout and overall dimensions that suit you best.

Thanks pllog! good suggestions. I usually go through alot of produce, it doesn't sit around all that long. I don't need a counter depth fridge. My friend's SZ is pretty hot looking I'll admit. I guess I want the most storage for the size, and easy access to the interior, good temp control and few maintenance issues. I'll check it out at the local app. store, and test the knobs on some rangetops too while I'm there, though I'm a bit smitten w/ the looks of the Berta.

I hear you on the ovens and will scout out the territory for something great - I love to bake and this might be my only chance for a nice oven.

Well, that's one way to know what you want!! See if you can find a place to see the Bertazzoni in action, and do a search in this forum for more info, just so you can be sure, but it really sounds like you've found your cooktop! I was more concerned about your alternate, really. If you decide against the Bertazzoni, it's still worth shopping more rather than just getting Dacor because it's familiar. If you end up thinking it's the best, great! Just don't limit your options because you like the knobs.

The most storage is going to be from a full depth fridge, just because it's full depth. Beware of cubic footage ratings, however. They don't take into account the way food actually fits. Open doors. Wiggle shelves. See where you'd put all the items you use. And there is plenty of information both here and on the manufacturers' and vendors' websites. The fancier models have fancier temperature controls (cold boost and similar functions) but they also have more that could go wrong. From what I understand, modern fridges don't last the way the old models did because of the electronics, and they don't tolerate temperature extremes (such as in a garage) as well either. On the other hand, they have better sensors and keep consistent temperatures better.

For baking a great oven is a joy. Save the money on the built-in fridge and get the Gaggenau oven!

Well Plllog, you got me going on the fancy oven - I'll check it out. I dont give much of a hoot for a built in fridge - prefer the capacity (after all, the kitchen is for COOKING and FOOD PREP, not primarily for impressing the neighbors - although I do want it to look lovely, and it will.) I'm not sure on the Berta; want to give several of them a lookover first. thanks again for the encouragement. Appliance selection is quite an obstacle course with all those stats and specs, wiz bang lookers and various price tags to cut through!

I had a friend , just like you,Cakequeen, He insisted I had to have a Subzero Fridge. Fortunately I had a Pacific Sales store close to me, so I could look at the SZ as well as a ton of other Fridges, and I did. I chose the 48" Jenn-air built in paneled Fridge. Why?, It had digital controls not just for the Fridge and freezer but also for the Meat compartment and Veggie Chrisper, and at the time it was better lit inside than the SZ and wasn't as "Industrial Looking" on the outside---alto I cudda hidden that with the Panels. I also checked Consumer Reports as well as other sites on the web. Jenn-air was the top rated fridge, back then (2005) whilst SZ was having a lotta problems--as seen (below) by even their own marketing mgr.

"
ItÂs natural for anyone who gets a sub-par rating to challenge the validity of the survey. So I was not surprised when Paul Leuthe, corporate marketing manager for Sub-Zero, told me, "The numbers are not accurate."

Sub-Zero is the only built-in refrigerator on the survey. "So it has a lot more potential for problems than a free-standing refrigerator that is just plugged in," Leuthe says. "Someone who buys a $5,000 to $8,000 refrigerator is less tolerant than other customers," he adds.

But Leuthe admits there could be another reason why this top-of-the-line brand rated at the bottom of the reliability survey. He says about four years ago they got a bad batch of copper tubing. It was used in the evaporators for models made from 2003 to 2006.

That tubing is now rusting and causing leaks. "These evaporator problems could be skewing the ratings," Leuthe says. He points out with some pride that Sub-Zero is making free repairs with no questions asked.

So you can see, there was a good chance, about 1 in 4, that I would have Had the "English Experience", Warm beer, (LOL)
The Jenn-air has been completely trouble free,and alto I thanked my friend for his help, --Did I really need this kind of help?
Subzero is still getting dinged for reliability --some of that could be "Old News" but I don't want to be the one to find out--(The hard way)--that there are still problems.

To be fair SZ did stand behind and fix these problems but in my 67 years here, I never have experienced a fridge failure and I didnt want to start now.

Good luck with whatever decision You make!!!!

Gary

I was originally going to get a Dacor cooktop, but the Bertazzoni offered much more, plus it was $500 cheaper. No contest . . . .

It's certainly gorgeous, but not at all temperamental. Easy to clean. Easty to install. It's a workhorse.