The clincher to buy this was that (most of) my KitchenAid attachments work on this mixer.  But I was surprised that beaters don't, nor do my extra mixing bowls.  The ice cream maker doesn't work because of the beater attachment method, but all the attachments that use the hub do.  I hope GE will offer extra bowls soon!  Otherwise this is an awesome mixer...more powerful and easier to use.  It's heavy, so I use a slider pad underneath it to move it around. Even with the surprises it's still worth 5 stars.