The only thing I didn't like was the bright construction orange cord. Looks like belongs in my tool shed not my kitchen.

It has a big enough motor (500 watts) so that it will (I hope!) NOT burn out any time soon, even kneading heavy rye bread dough. It's quieter than I expected, and easy to clean. I won't address its price, as I bought it using years' worth of accumulated credit card points, which is to say I paid nothing. There's a bit of play in the bowl support, but Kitchen Aid assured me that's normal. For now I'll be using it to make bread. Next I hope to move on to cookies. I'm quite happy with it.

The mixer is just like it was described. I was tentative because some of the reviews talked about thinking they were buying new mixers but when the one they ordered showed up, it was obvious it wasn't new. SO I called customer service BEFORE I purchased anything. I was transferred to the woman that handles the KitchenAid appliances. Not only was she knowledgeable, she was sweet and answered all of my dumb questions before purchasing.

I say dumb not because I'm new to KitchenAid. I wanted to first and foremost understand how they were able to sell the same mixer that was on the KitchenAid site for so much less. I came to find out that because of the volume they buy, they can offer such good prices. She entertained my questions about returns, warranty, shipping, motor size and how to read the codes on the site to determine the differences in mixers.

Not new to KitchenAid at all. I have a 5 Qt mixer that after 14 years, had some gear problems. I'm going to get it fixed and use it as a spare, but because I make double and triple batches of cookies, I needed a bigger bowl. This mixer is great. It came brand spankin' new in the box, not opened and not touched by anyone but me (LOL).

As I mentioned previously, I was a tad bit concerned because of all the reviews that talked about motor noises when the machine was first turned on. Especiallly because this mixer is a bit pricy. I heald my breath, turned it on and the mixer is quiet as a mouse. No abnormal noises and works flawlessly. I was also reassured because of the great time I had talking with customer service BEFORE buying, that I was sure if I had a problem, returning, exchanging or getting my money back wouldn't be a problem.

DON"T hesitate to do business with this company. The product is just as described and no problems. Lastly, I'm a firm believer that if customer service will spend 10-15 minutes on the phone with you before you buy anything, there's a high probability that when you do purchase, if something goes wrong, you'll get the same level of service or more

Bought this kitchenaid 8qt for Christmas and it's awesome. However, there is a lot of dough at the bottom that's not getting mixed. I scrape the bowl 10 times during my process but in the end I always have cream from the bottom that I have to hand mix. I tried to adjust the blown with the set screw but it came from the factory already maxed out. I called kitchenaid and I was blown away by the customer service. I expected they would make me send it in leaving me with our small kitchenaid classic that we got 22 years ago when we married. Not even close, kitchenaid is sending me a replacement and they are even sending me a red one to replace the white. I was prepared for a fight. The customer service I received today isn't common any more.

We purchased this mixer when we got fed up by the Hamilton Beach 63227 that we've had for about 1 year. I was always eyeballing a KitchenAid, but when I found the Hamilton for just 60 bucks new I pulled the trigger. It was not a bad mixer, but it was never powerful enough, and regretted my decision every time I was using it. Well, time came to get a meat grinder attachment (the stainless SmokehouseChef one) and what a better opportunity to change our mixer? So we searched and researched and stumbled upon this commercial KitchenAid. What a great find!

This mixer is similar in size to the Professional 600 we also considered. It is almost 17" tall, so it fits perfectly under the cabinet (and it looks fantastic too, orange cord included - tucked away in the back). And because it doesn't tilt, I can keep it in one position and never move it (the Hamilton - a tilt head model - we needed to take out every time as we couldn't tilt it under the cabinet). Also, the 8qt bowl is big (or at least that's my impression after switching from a 4.5qt one), but it is mostly tall. It is so tall in fact that there are issues adding ingredients - when we use this bowl we always have to lower it to add ingredients. It seems (from what I read) that the pouring shield from the Professional 600 6qt bowl fits this unit. But we never bought the shield - instead, to mitigate this issue we purchased the KitchenAid KSMC5QBOWL 5qt bowl for about 40 bucks) and that one is perfect for our everyday mixing needs.

We love the fact that all attachments are stainless steel. Very good quality too and NSF rated for restaurant use. They are BIG, and solid! We switched most of our small appliances and cookware to stainless, and this is one very important reason we chose this KitchenAid unit (the Hamilton aluminum-coated attachments started to chip after just a few uses). We have tried all attachments and all performed very well. But we needed to adjust the bowl height to get them to properly scrape the edges. There is one attachment that we considered (the KitchenAid KAFE7L ) but didn't yet really feel the need for it.

Using it is a pleasure! This thing is a beast. Nothing can stop it! It has so much torque! And it is do quiet too. It features a slow start - when it gets to the speed selected all you hear is a very quiet motor driving the gear drive (I cannot really explain it; it just sounds like a well-built, solid machinery). It mixes anything we through at it - pizza dough, play dough, paleo (sticky) dough, panettone dough, eggs, etc. - with so much ease. It also drives that meat grinder without any strain - almost as if nothing is there.

The lift-bowl is a bit more inconvenient than the tilt-head model (as my Hamilton was) but the torque on this puppy would have probably torn that hinge apart. To see the true difference in the motor design please refer to the pictures I uploaded - the KSM8990 has direct drive, and the entire motor unit is actually cheaper to replace (about 50 bucks) than replacing all parts that could go wrong in the other 2 models.

It is one of my best appliances (I try to purchase commercial quality as often as I can - I also have the Waring WFP14SC , the Waring MX1200XTX , the Weston 08-0801-W , among others) and I reach for it every time I have the chance.

All in all, highly recommended!