Condolences on the death of a beloved appliance. It will be interesting to see what recommendations you get. The old RobotCoupes are a tough act to follow.

Do you have access to Cook's Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen? Their most recent article, in a January-February 2016 CI magazine and a May 2017 ATK publication, "highly recommended" the Cuisinart Custom 14 model. If you do not have access to CI/ATK, here is the summary on the "Custom 14" model:

"Cuisinart Custom 14 Food Processor: With a
powerful, quiet motor; responsive pulsing action; sharp blades; and a
simple, pared-down-to-basics design, our old favorite aced every test,
surprising us time and again by outshining pricier, more feature-filled
competitors. It was one of the few models that didn’t leak at its
maximum stated liquid capacity. It’s also easy to clean and store,
because it comes with just a chopping blade and two disks for shredding
and slicing. Additional blade options are available à la carte."

CI/ATK tested Breville's $300 12 cup "Sous Chef" (rather than the $400 16-cup Sous Chef) and ranked it second but only "recommended" rather than "highly recommended."

For a comparsion of Cuisinart's Custom 14 to Brevile's 16 cup Sous Chef, you might want to look at the the July 2017 NY Times's Sweethome/Wirecutter blog whose write-up can be found here. They explain why they preferred the Cuisinart Custom 14 but also looked very favorably on the much more expensive Breville 16 cup Sous Chef model.

FWIW, I was recently looking into upgrading my 15-year old Cuisinart Custom Prep, I found the Custom 14 priced at anywhere between $145 on Amazon up to $199 at the likes of Bed, Bath & Beyond and Sur La Table. Our local BB&B has had it on sale for for about 20% off from time to time.

Thanks- that's great information! The Custom 14 was kind of on my radar; just wanted see what others are happy with. I'm thinking Christmas gift for us (my wife will be surprised, though). Hopefully there will be a Black Friday/Cyber Monday deal around Thanksgiving. Our old RC still functions, but the bowl has been broken for ages ($100 for a new one!) and now it is squealing and seems to be losing power.

I have a KitchenAid Proline 16 cup unit - it runs like a tank. It also comes with two extra smaller bowls, a cutting blade, dough blade, 3 slicer disks and an egg white whip. I've had it at least 6 years or so and never had an issue with it.

Give Magimix a try, it comes from the same family as RobotCoupe, but a domestic version. I am not sure how popular Magimix is in the US, but in Europe and Australia, it is regarded well above other brands for food processor category.

Chanop, thanks for that. The current Magimix looks exactly like what I want. My Cuisinart is staggering toward its last gasp, but when I looked at alternatives a couple of years ago, I didn't like them. The new Cuisinart would do, but I think I like the Magimix better, especially with your recommendation.

I replaced my mother's 1980 Cuisinart with a Magimix and am very happy with it. The Cuisinart did not actually die, btw, and it was used a great deal. I was just a bit tired of it and was really enticed by the Magimix.

hmmm, the Magimix looks very much like my Cuisinart. I'll take your word for it that it is a better appliance. :) I have the 14 cup Cuisinart Elite with the 3 different bowl sizes. What I find most annoying is that when I use the smaller bowl, it leaks and I have to wash the larger one as well. I usually wash mine in the DW, but when I don't, because of the different size bowls that can be used, it is such a pain to wash the top. Next time I'll look at the Cuisinart Custom. Just my experience.

We have the Magimix from Williams Sonoma (larger capacity than other Magimix, from what I understand). Have had it 9 years and love it.

Magimix comes in different sizes, a largest size ones are 5200XL, Patissiere, and Cook Expert. 4200XL is the middle size, and 3200XL a bit smaller. These are still a decent size machines. Magimix has a micro one, mainly for herbs and small amount chopping. Between 3200XL, 4200XL, and 5200XL, these are the more useful size for most family.

I use Patissiere (also called 6200XL) which comes with a specially designed metal dough bowl, when compared with 5200XL. I don't bake much and opt for Patissiere as it can do quite a few functionalities of stand mixer. I actually use it to knead dough for bread more than its food processor functionalities.

Cook Expert is also gaining ground in Europe and Australia over the market of Thermomix. It comes with all the basic of 5200XL plus a cooking function in another specialised bowl.

I have the Cuisinart Custom 14 and have been very happy with it.

Actually I have two of them. One in FL and one in NY. LOL.

I forgot about Thermomix. :) It's barely available in the U.S.

I think the Magimix at Williams Sonoma is the 5200XL but I can't find a good description of the Magimix models. I like the concept of the multiple bowl sizes. I have an 11-cup which is often not quite big enough but other times just right.

My main reason for liking the Magimix, given that there are positives for both it and the Cuisinart, is aesthetic. :) I was looking awhile back, before I was able to fix my Cuisinart (I think percussive maintenance did the trick), and was tempted by the Robot Coupe, but it's so un-pretty! And I don't really need a commercial machine.

OTOH, my mother's old disks might fit the 14 cup Cuisinart. I'll have to look into it. And them. To see if I really want them. I use the grater and the rasp on my current one, but not the slicer. And I have a KA mixer and a Vita-mix, so I don't need it to try to do what they do. :) I definitely don't need the Pastisier, and I'm not Euro enough to want the one that cooks. :) I have lots of pots.

I have the new Breville Sous Chef Peel and Dice. America's Test Kitchen did not compare the best of each brand. They stayed within a price range. They did say that they did not choose the Breville because of its higher price. They did the comparisons before the Peel and Dice was available, I think.

I love my Breville. It has a 25 year warranty on the motor, so I plan on it lasting for the rest of my life! It does everything a food processor, blender, and mixer can do except for heavy bread doughs. It can even cut french fries.

It seems like every year, America's Test Kitchen chooses Cuisinart for every appliance...for whatever reason.

Some of the online small appliance stores will let you try small appliances out for up to a year. Then if you don't like it, you can return them.

That looks amazing! Have you used the dicing and peeling features? How many sizes of dice does it make?

Do you mean the Breville I have or the Cuisinart others are talking about? If you are asking about the Breville, each cube is less than a half inch square. I posted the info on the appliance forum. I have forgotten because the dicing dimensions on Breville's website were in millimeters.

Thanks. I have to admit chopping masses of tough vegetables is something I would love help with.

I think the only thing it warns about is sweet potato. I can't remember if it said do not grate them or ?????

It really all depends on the end use your son is planning on using this for. For home use and occasional home catering (I would assume only smaller events) the Cuisinart food processor will be just fine. Try and find a higher end model without too many bells and whistles. Don't get me wrong, Robot Coupes are great, but they are expensive and I don't think that your son really needs that kind of power for a home model. As for warranty, most commerical products are only warrantied for a year. Sure the Robot Coupe has a much better motor in it, but they also take a lot more of a beating than home models. A home model gets used only once in awhile (probably at the most a few times a week, more likely once a week or less, at home), while a Robot Coupe can get used many, many times in a single day, in a restuarant Kitchen

I have done a bit of research, and the Magimix is made of polycarbonate, and with time that leaks out a chemical bisphenol that is carcinogenic.

Moreover, the Tritan that Brevile/sage uses is infinitely more superior than polycarbonate. In one test it lasted 10x longer (durability wise) than magimixes polycarbonate.

With both motors having incredibly long warranties, would would get damaged first would be the plastic bowl.

I purchased the Brevile 16 peel and dice and very happy with it.