Phisherman wrote:

On Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:19:42 -0500, "Existential Angst"
wrote:

Awl --

Rather than a harangue, let me just post some numbers, from the Dec.
Consumer Reports on Ranges I just got.

The first number is the price, the second number is CR's score

For 30" dual fuel (elec/gas),

Bosch 2,000 - 72
GE 1850 - 70
GE 1500 - 69

So far, so good, right? Heh....

Kenmore 3200 - 68
Wolf 5200 - 67
GE 2800 - 65
Viking 5500 - 63
Jenn-Air 2400 - 62
Dacor 6000 - 59
KithenAid 3700 - 50



Did not expect KitchenAid at the bottom of the list. I have a
Whirlpool, works great, 18 years of heavy use and still going strong.
I'm wondering if all these brands are really made by a couple
factories who slap on different brand names. I buy appliances with as
few features as possible--lower cost and usually fewer repairs that
way.

Many of them are produced in the same factories, and the manufacturer's
web sites don't try to hide that fact. Most manufacturer's sites clearly
show their "family of brands" and indeed the fact that products are
produced by the same parent company and in the same factory doesn't mean
that there are not significant differences between their "value" brands
and their "luxury" brands.