COOKLEE 9.5 Qt 660W Stand Mixer - Powerful Electric Kitchen Mixer with Dishwasher-Safe Dough Hook, Flat Beater, Wire Whip & Pouring Shield - Perfect for Baking Bread, Cakes, Cookies & More - Ideal for Home Bakers & Cooking Enthusiasts - Black

My hand mixer literally blew up and I decided to upgrade. I spent days comparing models, accessories, specs, etc. I was looking at Kitchen Aid, but as good as everyone says they are, it's just too much to invest in a mixer that's not used every day. What attracted me to the Cook Lee brand was, first, the price on Amazon, that was made even better by a "coupon" savings and my bonus points. Second (having spent most of my life in graphic design) was the actual design of the mixer. Nothing you have to hide in a cabinet! It's about half the weight of a Kitchen Aid. Which leads me to one small point: in the "compare with" section on Amazon, material was listed as "aluminum". I know it wasn't meant for the accessories, becasuse they had their own material description. It's a heavy duty plastic body, but it's not aluminum. Regardless, what isn't plastic today? The suction cups on the bottom are formidable, almost like wrestling with an octopus! Lift it all up at once, because if one of them catches the counter top again, it sticks! Which is good, because the mixer DOES shimmy a little on higher speeds, but the machine stays put very firmly. The biggest surprise was the quietness of operation. I thought it might be noisier because it has a 600+watt motor--stronger than many other brands, including Kitchen Aid. So that was a surprise. The spatter cover is a nice extra, and the stainless steel 9.5 quart bowl has a handle and it twist-locks to the base. I've tried the various attachments and speeds and different weight doughs, just to inaugurate the mixer properly and see if there were any negatives. Well, one. But it's a reverse-negative in that I'm mentioning the bowl is too BIG. It was fine for all I used it for, but there will come a time when a smaller bowl would be more practical, so I'v checked with the manufacturer and am awaiting a reply. All in all, if you're not completely convinced that Kitchen Aid is the ONLY good mixer, this one is highly recommended. Weight wise, it's easy enough that almost anyone can handle it, so if you store it in a cabinet you don't need to call for help to hoist it out. I don't have the cabinet space, so it doubles as a mixer and a piece of sculpture!