You may say it's just a toaster but if you use it frequently you will recognize and appreciate the quality and the thoughtful design.  Looks great on the counter.  I like the end of cycle tone to announce the toast is ready.  I especially like the 3-wire cord for added safety.  For slice after slice of the same kind of bread, the color control is very predictable.  If the user changes from thin bread to thicker bread, the control must be changed to get the same color probably because the thicker bread is closer to the heat source.  The bagel feature works very well although the color control needs to be increased to a higher number.  The primary reason for downgrading from 5 to 4-star rating is that the toasting is slower than I would like. [This review was collected as part of a promotion.]