I have been replacing my 40 year old cookware over the last year.

I am a stainless fan and have purchased several pieces at TJ Max.

Have a Cuisinart Chef Classic 5 qt which is great. Have a Wolfgang Puck 3 qt saute pan with lid (love the pan but the handles get hot on my gas stove).

I also have Farberware Millenium which has performed very well.

I purchased a couple of non stick fry pans for eggs etc.

Also check the weight on the Emerilware, I found it to be too heavy for me.

I purchased Calphalon Tri-Ply Stainless cookware earlier this year and I love it. Bought it at Bed Bath & Beyond with a 20% coupon.

all clad only for me

There are a lot of good sets out there and most are not as expensive as All Clad. For non-stick, I am very happy with my Circulon Set (by Meyer) and it is cheap compared to All Clad. It was my first decent cookware set and much better than the cheap stuff I had before.

I just got an All Clay fry pan to try out. It is excellent. I would say it is better than my beloved Circulon but is three times as costly. For most of my needs, the Circulon is fine (and we had an electric cooktop). The non-stick surface is coming off after 8 years so it is time to replace the set. I am attracted to SS cause you just cannot brown meat that well in non-stick.

Is the non stick safe? That depends on who you believe. I am not an expert on the subject. Some sources claim people can or are getting sick from it but I do not think there is conclusive proof out yet.

Cusinart, Kitchenaid, Caphalon, Emeril, Sam's Club and Costco's sets all have good comments here (among others, do a search on All Clad alternatives).

I was at a store today and fingered an Emeril 8in fry pan. Compared to the All Clad, Emeril's is not induction capable (not an issue for you) and thinner, especially the sides. It will not carry heat to the sides as well but is that really necessary? Probably not for most people.

Another brand to look at is Henckels Classic Clad. It, like All Clad, has an aluminum core up the sides.

Things to look for is a alumium or copper core, the thicker the better to avoid hot spots. Any pan with some weight to it will probably be more even than a thin one.

If you do decide on non-stick, again, I like Meyers (Circulon and Analon) and a lot of people here like Calphalon which is more expensive.

YMMV

While I think you're looking at a little bit lower price range right now, you might want to take a look at the Demeyere Atlantis line. It's much nicer than All Clad, at a similar cost.

I'm researching alternatives to All Clad (due to price) and think I want to buy Caphalon Tri-ply stainless. Has anyone seen some really good deals on this lately?