First of all, NO ONE needs a toaster like this! That said, we love this appliance anyways - a somewhat senseless extravagence that adds to the overall feel of what we are trying to do with our kitchen (pro-style it). The assortment of colors was alos a big plus, allowing us to match the red knobs of our Wolf 30" range.This is the second toaster we had shipped to us. The first was defective - the bell on the right side did not work. The warning chimes are important, because the toast doesn't pop up when it's done. Fortunately, the chime is loud enough to be practical, but I suggest giving this unit a good "test run" to be sure all the literal bells and figurative whistles work properly.This is all about style, so I won't go into how much better our toast tastes (it tastes the same, frankly). But it is fun to look at and certainly built as sturdy as it looks.One little quirk - if you toast using both isdes, and set the timer (doneness knob) to different settings, you do NOT get two different warning chimes. The side that finishes first will chime, then the side finishing second will not. I'm not certain if this is a design deficiency or a manufacturing defect, and plan to call Kitchen Aid about this. Each chime (left or right) works when the corresponding side is used independantly, however.Haven't tried anything other than white bread, so I can't comment on bagels, english muffins, etc.

I have been searching for a very good toaster. I thought this was it. Unfortunately, when the toast is ready one side is always more done than the other just like my old Cusinart toaster. Why is it so hard to get the toast done evenly?

This toaster is built solid and the performance is top-notch. We like the separate controls for each set of two slots. There is no worry of burining yourself either. The outside always feels cool to the touch. There are some nifty attachments that you can buy separately as well. We didn't mind paying a little extra for this toaster because it's obvious that it'll still be around twenty-five years from now.