Vox Humana wrote:
> The wattage you need depends on what you are going to do with the machine.
> If you are going to make dough, then you need more watts. For most jobs,
> 450-600 watts will be fine, and that is the general range of what you will
> find in the market place.

Wattage is largely a marketing gimmick. The true power of an appliance
would be rated in horsepower. Unfortunately, manufacturers rarely
provide this information.

In Cook's Illustrated's November issue, they bring up this point in
their review of stand mixers. You'll also find a discussion of this at
<http://forum.kitchenaid.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2378>.