I've had a black glass cook top for a year and have not had any problems. I use stainless, anodized aluminum and enamel cast iron.

No scratches, most clean ups are a simple wipe and dry. On the occasion when there is a stubborn clean up, I use Cerama Bryte and it works great.

I have always had black with the grey specks, I didn't like the look of the white and expect it would look dirty more.
That said I too get a black ring - but I think its mostly carbonized sauce, burnt stuff and whatever you get let from water spills cooking off? It takes awhile to build up, I'm not the most conscious wiper. I can usually get it off the the specialized white cleaner.
Still I' MUCH MUCH rather wipe down and even ocassionally scrape a glass top than have to soak gas grills and the little ceramic tops and the under the grill pans you have on gas. My new gas stove looked like absolute crap all the time and was a total PIA to clean. I gave mine to my mother after 6 months and switched back to electric.
As for scratches, no problems, just try not to drag the pots around.

Hi
Don't know if this will help, but when I first got my white glass top range, my older pans left marks whenever I cooked with them. the bottoms of my pans were almost black instead of the shiny stainless look. :) Years of use and teenagers!! Anyway I just scrubbed the bottoms of the pans until they looked like new and haven't had any more of the black marks on my range top.

I'm with marys1000, mine seems to get the rings if it isn't wiped off after each use. I do that, but I live in a house with a spouse & 2 sons who don't. I think the rings are permanent now, but I've had mine 13 years & think it looks much better than my old stove after much less time. Much, much easier to take care of. Cerama brite does work well.

ngraham, have you tried Bar Keepers Friend on the rings?

I find it works great at getting off what Cerama brite doesn't.

I get the carbonized stuff on my glass-top which donesn't come off well with regular cleaning. But a window razor blade scraper like you use for painting works just fine. Keep a safe angle and be gentle,

Another fan of ceram bryte here. I had a GE glasstop range for 9 years that still looked like new when I gave it to my friend's daughter and I DO cook using everything from a large Le Creuset oven to assorted pans and skillets. I did'nt buy any 'special' pans.

I've read somewhere that repeated use of a cleaner such as Ceram Brite creates a 'patina' which enhances the ease of cleaning. I believe this is true. I rarely had to scrape with a blade. When we remodeled our kitchen, I replaced it with a KitchenAid smoothtop cooktop and a Kenmore Elite wall oven.

Breton, I've had the same range for 8 years and have HATED every minute! Bane of my existence. That sucker gets marked up just boiling tea in the kettle. Can't just wipe it off -- gotta use Bar Keepers Friend and elbow grease. Then rinse, rinse, and rinse again.

Now, I've always been somewhat fastidious about keeping my pots clean, always scrubbing the bottoms with Brillo with every wash. So I can't attribute the range mess on dirty pots. And I use all kinds of pots - Calphalon, All-Clad Stainless, hard anodized, Revereware -- without exception, everything leaves a stain (or some kind of shadowing around the shape of the burner). It's so annoying -- can't just cook and wipe, gotta SCRUB.

The good news is we're in the midst of a remodel, including the kitchen, and they're bringing in a gas line!!!

Breton, you totally have my understanding. I wish I could tell you that over the years it gets better, but it sure didn't in my experience.

I have a G.E.black glass cook top. It is beautiful when clean, but getting it clean, and keeping it clean is a continuous chore. Any residue shows on that glass. My one iron skillet made a scratch on it. Anything you use on it must be immaculate, or it will scratch or stain the cook top. I wouldn't buy it again. I just couldn't imagine using heavy iron cookware on it. The only thing that I really enjoy using is my old Corning cookware (inherited from mother in law). It doesn't get too hot;it doesn't stain;it is so perfect, and is unobtainable now. The story of my life. I would love to have a gas range again. I don't mind the cleaning. I can adjust the heat and use any cookware I want and it all works. It cooks!

You need a copper diffuser to put on your glass top first, then you can use your cast iron pan. Never put cast iron directly on glass. It will scratch it.
I have one. I am getting a single electric burner to use on the side for my cast iron pan. Use the stove for stainless steel.

I have a mixture of water and Baking soda (Make it kinda like a paste) and put it on the burners when I get the marks and I use very expensive pans and they all do it.) I am tired of cleaning the top I have even checked the bottoms of my pans. Do not know where it comes from but the baking soda works really good for me.

where do you get a copper diffuser.I have several cast Iron pans that were my moms. I do not use them on this stove.