The 4-slice Cuisinart toaster has proved to be a worthwhile addition to our kitchen. The toaster has toasted bread well in a variety of settings (light to dark), has defrosted and toasted frozen waffles as it should and in general performed well. The toaster is attractive in design, is easily cleaned and has thus far been electically and mechanically sound. Based on our experience, we would recommend this toaster.

I think what has happened to most toasters (over-engineered junk with useless buttons and electronic "features") constitutes a crime.

I bought this toaster. It worked fine for three months. Toast was OK--I'm not too picky.

But then the left two slots stopped working. Lever wouldn't stay down. I took it apart myself, and cleaned everything, including the contacts. I carefully compared the parts and their functions on the left, to those on the right. Some small electro-doodad was not working right.

I e-mailed Cuisinart customer service asking them to mail me the part. No response. (This tactic has worked for me with other companies.) So I still have a half-functional toaster that's cheaper to throw out and replace, than to send in for repairs.

I mean how many people, in their regular job, can cut their productivity by 50% and remain employed?

How many of you would accept a saw where every other tooth broke off after the first few cuts?

What about headphones where the left speaker failed in 2 months?

Cuisinart doesn't seem to mind if their designers and manufacturers produce toasters that quickly lose 50% of their functionality.

I wonder if the Cuisinart executives would accept such junk in their own kitchens?

And by the way, I'm sure most toasters share essentially the same electro-mechanical guts. It's certainly not limited to Cuisinart, at this price point. Although I know there are better customer service departments out there, willing to help people who would rather fix something than throw it out. On the other hand, this thing is made so cheaply (and so overpriced) that it will probably fail again as soon as it's "fixed."

My husband was not happy with our old toaster,,,,seemed it took longer every week for the toast to pop up. So off to the internet for a new one. We both love cool side toasters since we have limited counter space. I found the cuisinart 4 slice toaster with cool sides for a reasonable price and purchased it. Wow,,,i am so glad i did,,this toaster is wonderful. It has nice wide slots, two separate sides so i can have mine my way and he can have his another way at the same time. Plus having the cool sides makes it wonderful in my small space, no burned knuckles, fingers, hands or bread wrappers from the hot sides of most models. This one i recommend to everyone 100%. Its worth the price believe me. Thank you cuisinart ( now make the things here in the U.S. ok ?? )

I've owned this toaster for 3 years and it has never given me any problems until now. For the price, I'm very happy with the length of time it did work. I'm sorry it doesn't work anymore because it's always browned perfectly. I'll replace it with the same model, and keep my fingers crossed.

I bought this item with the idea of replacing my 20 year old GE toaster. It only browned one side of the bread while leaving the other side barely warm! Or it would brown one side and burn the other. Well. my 20 year old GE is back on the counter and works fine compared with this piece of junk!