Like other reviewers here, I had the Cuisinart doppelgänger toaster for many years before it finally gave out. I was happy with it and wanted to get the same toaster, only to find that it now carries the Waring name on it, and also lacks the slot selection switch (which I kind of hated anyway, because you'd always forget to switch it back if you ever used it). The first toaster I bought to replace my old Cuisinart was the Breville BTA830XL Die-Cast 4-Slice Long Slot Smart Toaster. I did tons of research and read a lot of reviews and recommendations and took a chance on the leverless toaster. I was apprehensive of all the fanciness, but so many folks loved the thing, that I thought it just might work out. It failed. I ended up returning it after it stopped working and started flashing all the lights, Customer Service couldn't help me, and everyone who gave it a bad review had the same exact problem with only one resolution - return it. So I returned it for a refund. This Waring toaster, however, is still going strong after just over two months' of near daily use. It works just as well as my old Cuisinart. There's just one thing: it hums while it's working. When I depress the lever, I get to hear a distinct humming that continues until the toast pops up. It wasn't a deal breaker after my last purchase, so I decided to just live with the noise. The reason I returned to this design is the fact that I can toast slices of any shape of bread, including those round Italian loaves, Ciabatta, homemade breads. or what have you. The slots are generous for width as well, so fat bagels are not a problem. I like the fact that you can lift the lever up a bit, once the toasting is complete, to be able to grab a smaller slice out without having to resort to using tools. For English muffins, for example, with that skinny, smaller side of the muffin, I might even lift the lever in a quick motion to throw the bread up a bit, just to I can catch it mid-air. It's really a fun skill to master. :) I want to say that the dial for selecting darkness is more sensitive on this toaster than on my Cuisinart, as I am keeping it near 2 for most commercial bread slices these days, but again, that's not a deal breaker for me. Crumb tray slides right out if you want to clean. The cord wraps around underneath the unit and hooks into the perimeter, if your toaster is too close to the outlet, like mine. It will take a little time to get it right, but you'll never have to do it again if you do it right. The chrome finish is nice, too. You can even use it as a very basic mirror if you need sneak a quick peek to check for food on your face or something like that. It's an expensive toaster, but if it lasts as many, long years as my old Cuisinart did, I'm happy to pay for it to get a good, reliable toaster.
