There has been some negative feedback on the Proline coffee grinder. See for
example the reviews on the
www.coffeegeek.com website. For $200, there are
better grinders on the market, such as the Rancilio "Rocky" or Gaggia MDF.
My general impression was that the outsides were better than the insides -
they paid a lot of attention to getting the "look" right and using high
quality die cast metal cases (would not have been exceptional 40 years ago,
but in this age of plastic they stand out). But the innards don't
necessarily measure up nor are they worth what they are charging. Not
because they weren't trying but because they are building many of these
appliance for the 1st time and haven't had time to iron out the wrinkles
yet. You'd be better off with well proven designs from the recognized
leaders in the respective categories instead of going wall to wall KA. That
a lot of the stuff is made in China is not promising either.
BTW, I was just in a WS store and noticed a perfectly ordinary looking pizza
spatula. Triangular stainless with a wooden handle. The kind that any
restaurant supply house sells for about $3. It was $11, "marked down" from
$35. I assume Williams-Sonoma takes their cost and adds a zero at the end to
set the retail price for their gadgets. Who in their right mind would pay
$35 for an ordinary spatula? Who buys this stuff? My wife has some store
credit there from returned gifts. Can anyone think of any item in the store
(under $100) that is not vastly overpriced - I couldn't in a quick walkthru.
"Arthur" > wrote in message ...
> Has anyone formed an opinion of the now line of KitchenAid appliances as
> found in places such as Williams-Sonoma? In addition to new colors such
> as red and pearl, the four slice toaster sells for $299.95, coffee
> grinder for $199.95, etc. etc.
>
> I have a collection of toasters I dislike, for various reasons (I could
> add to the amusing stories about Black & Decker's Arize toaster) but 300
> bucks is a bit extreme for burned or unpredictable toast!
>
> -=Art=- drartieatattdo0tnet