I'd love to have a Viking! Right now I'm making do with a newer Kitchenaid with some problems, but my next mixer purchase will either be a Cuisinart or a Viking.

Hahahaha, Happycao.. "dough".. "dough"... :)

How about Viking? Anyone ever use one? I use and love KitchenAid-1991.

My daughter has the Cuisinart (new) and loves it.

ohh thank you this helps a lot since the sales are HUGE this weekend!
haha... i need to dough to make the dough... ohh.. goodness...i just had to say it

I haven't had experience with a Sunbeam stand mixer, but my mother has a Sunbeam food processor, and I am really not impressed with it. It does the job pretty well, but its motor is nothing compared to my Kitchenaid food processor, The Sunbeam feels very flimsy and I really dislike the design. Again, that's the food processor, not the mixer, but if the FP is any indication, I'll never buy the mixer.

On mixers: I've had terrible experiences with Kitchenaid mixers in the past five years. Terrible. And so have many other people. (Not to contradict drbabs's comment.. the older Kitchenaids appear to perform beautifully, but the newer ones are really poor quality in comparison.. wish I could get my hands on an older one). I'd recommend getting the Cuisinart stand mixer instead of Kitchenaid.

http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-SM-55BC-2-Quart-12-Speed-Brushed/dp/B000MTIUSS

I have a Kitchen Aid stand mixer that I bought in 1983. It is a workhorse. Much more powerful than the Sunbeam mixer, it is also durable--I've only had to replace the whisk attachment in all these years (and I love to bake and use it frequently), and I've misplaced my dough hook so I'll be ordering a new one soon. Bread dough is heavy--you need the power--get a Kitchen Aid. it's worth the investment.

Have not used a Sunbeam, but I know from making bread dough that you need a mixer with a strong motor that won't easily overheat. Many moons ago, when I got my Kitchen Aid, that was a serious consideration, and it has not failed me yet.