I was hesitant because of the price. I'm not normally a "brand name only" girl. I took a chance and, I've got to say, I'm pretty impressed. My KitchenAid has rescued my soupy, buttery chocolate chip cookies and allows me to make pizza dough whenever I want instead of "whoops, that dough I bought is about to go bad but I don't have time to make it tonight." Its not loud like I thought it would be and its really easy to clean.
My mother in law bought this as a gift for me, she had just purchased one for herself and has really enjoyed it. She knew that I had always wanted one, so she got me one. I love it!!! I have made cheesecakes, muffins, pizza dough and cookies.
I've had my mixer for about 4 months. I'm so glad I made the investment! It makes baking so easy. No hard hand stirring or wrestling with a hand mixer. I also purchased the flex beater and it is great. No scraping the bowl. Can't say enough great things about this mixer!