Breville 2-Slice Die-Cast Smart Toaster BTA820XL

I must say that I don't use the toaster daily - maybe twice per week. I am an avid bread baker and just wanted to toast the day old bread (if there is some left over). So forking out over 100 dollars for a toaster was something that I considered for a long time, but then decided to give it a try. And I must say - I am so far not disappointed. The toaster is well made, looks good on the counter, I love the timer which allows you to see how much more time is left before the toast is done and beeps when cycle is completed. I especially like the "look and see" feature where without interrupting the cycle you can preview whether the toasting is done before completion of selected time as well as the "little more" feature where after completing the cycle you can toast it for a little more time if you are not satisfied. Also, it seems that the opening for the toast is wide enough for toasting a bagel, although I have not done that yet. Finally, the exterior stays cool so you don't have to worry about burning yourself if you accidentally touch it while in use. Overall, I am happy with the purchase. Breville seems to be making really good appliances (I already own the juicer and like it a lot), this appears to be another quality item, and I am sick and tired of buying cheap stuff that does not deliver and needs to be replaced frequently - who has time to do the shopping all over again a year or two later? So paying a little more for quality actually makes sense.

I bought this toaster when it was on sale during Boxing Week. Even on sale, I hesitated at paying that much for a toaster when I could have bought one for 1/3 the price. After using my Breville for a week, I'm glad I took the plunge.

I bought the Breville based on the mostly positive reviews here and on amazon.com. It does my toast to perfection - 12-grain bread done on the maximum setting turns out perfectly toasted both sides every time, nice & crunchy, without the stripes from the elements. I was surprised - no flipping required. If I have one quibble, it's that the slots could be slightly longer to accommodate larger slices. It appears to be sized towards commercial bread slices (which are getting smaller all the time) so either I start making smaller loaves, or clip the ends off the slices.

I've never had a toaster that would toast my bread-machine bread properly. My previous toaster was hit & miss. My toaster oven sort of does the job but it's slooooow and involves flipping the toast over to get both sides evenly toasted and even then, it's not really "toasted". Toasters all seem to have a problem with home-made bread - it's more dense and moist than the commercial product, more thickly sliced and takes longer to toast evenly. Every toaster I've had required the maximum setting. So far, the Breville seems up to the job.

Bought this to replace a ~10 year old Cuisinart Toaster that encountered electrical problems. I bought the Breville 2 weeks ago and it is easy to use, intuitive and toasts bagels, english muffins and bread to perfection. I've always liked Breville small appliances so I didn't mind spending more but at a MRSP of $150 it is expensive. The current price of $111 (Nov 26, 2010) is a steal and should be taken advantage of.