I am on my third machine in 25 years. I love the bosch machine. Each machine has been a little different and improved with a stronger motor. I make 100% whole wheat bread and french bread frequently and use the machine for that. My bread comes out fabulous. I also use it for making cookie dough. I bought a bosch for one of my daughters for a wedding gift and she loves hers too. My latest one stopped kneading properly but otherwise worked. I could have gotten it fixed for around $100.00. However, since the latest model had a 800 watt motor instead of a 700, I opted to just buy a new one. I also always get the one with the blender. (the first one I had had other attachments too, but I didn't use them much) The blender is very powerful. You can buy the bosch on line at various places for the same price as on Amazon with free shipping. I bought mine from a place in Utah. I know they are expensive and they never go on sale. But for our family, it has been so worth it. My adult kids still come over for the home made bread.

I've had one for the past 13 years, and love it. The blender makes excellent smoothies, it's very powerful. I also mill my own flour for bread and other items. I can knead up 5-6 loaves in the Bosch. I freeze them and bake more as needed. It was pricey, but over 13 years, I have definately gotten my use from it and it's still going strong. I got mine from a dealer in Indiana. I'm not worried about it becoming obsolete--they've been around for a long while.

Cj