I wanted a Kitchenaid Artisan because I wanted the mixing shield and also because some of the reviews I read it seemed like folks liked it a bit better than the cheaper Classic one(our
walmart marked the Classic to $150) if they mixed thicker doughs a lot...also,I found some iffy reviews on the upper level model (think it is a Professional model) they sell at such a good price at Sams(either folks loved it or had issues with it...so it was hard to tell for sure although it appeared to be very sturdy and nice to me). Take into account if you want to make larger batches of breads, I think the Classic would have been too small of a bowl for me. I make breads,pizza dough,tamale filling,frosting,etc...and it is the bomb! Slickdeals.com often has posts of the deals going on for these mixers. I found a clearanced Artisan on Lowes.com for $209... printed it out and took it to Kohls, whose price was $299 on sale...they wouldn't match it exactly(although some folks on slickdeals said they got Kohs to match it at that)..but manager said they would do $249...and then I used my 30% off that and got I think $30 in Kohls cash...essentially not paying much more than the Classic model at walmart on sale. Someone told me that the slicer/shredder attachment is wonderful,so i think i will add that next.