I bought the Cuisinart 4 slice toaster several months ago. It toasts well and permits a person to either toast 2 or 4 slices. If you want to toast an English muffin or bagel it is not readily visible which side of the slice will heat up. The levels of toasting range from light to rather dark, thus accomodating for different preferences of people in the family. I'm not sure what I would recommend in terms of design appearance, but it seems to me to be somewhat unattractive. That said, it works great.