Very disappointed with the product. I've tried three of the same because I liked the 2 wide and long slots. However, i have not had one where the brownness control was properly calibrated. Even the lowest two settings produced darker than desirable results. One would think that surely a company like Cuisinart would test their products before sending them out to consumers, who(without satisfaction) in turn find it necessary to return the product having wasted time and money.

This toaster works OK. It does not work very well though. It does not toast evenly. If you are picky about your toast forget this model. Also it is slooooooww! I make toast on the highest setting and the toast usually has to be put back in because it is just faintly brown. Perhaps because I only eat natural artisan type bread like you can get from Whole Foods. Haven't tried supermarket bread. But it works. Just poorly.

I figured looking at the reviews I had a 50/50 chance - it seemed equal amts of people loved or hated it. But it plainly burned the edge of the toast every time.

After reading other reviews, I decided to go with this toaster because it is one of the few which had the cool-touch exterior feature. The only problem I have had is when I try to toast a long piece of sourdough bread. I prefer this type of bread to be toasted well and my old toaster actually did a good job there, but it was a regular sized toaster and I had to cut the slices just to fit them in. This toaster on setting of 3.5 to 4, burnt the very edges of the slices. Even on 3, the edges were burnt, but the rest of the toast was perfect. Using regular white bread, the toast is evenly toasted, even toasting 4 slices at a time using a setting of about 2. I'm not much of a bagel toaster and so cannot give an opinion on how this toaster works on this type of bread. Overall, I am satisfied with the Cuisinart, and if I have any further opinion good or bad, I will add it later. The cool touch exterior is definately a plus for me. I am surprised at how many toasters don't have this feature and I would have considered some of the other brands.

My old toaster died...I loved it. It matched my kitchen (white), stayed cool (a must for a klutz!) and had one long opening so I could toast just about anything. Went searching the web, but started with Amazon.com, and never got any farther! Found the Cuisinart, which has all the features of my defunct toaster, and some added ones. I like the back-lit numbers that tell you how quickly your toast will brown (burn!)...makes it look like it has blue eyes. Also makes it easy to remember to unplug it when finished. Besides its charming appearance, it allows you to select toasting two slices or four, and has a button to cancel toasting and a lever that lifts the toast up above the level of the toaster. No more burned fingertips! From a "basics" point of view, it makes darned good toast. Buy it in confidence.