My old food mixer died after 42 years of use, not bad, but I really wanted a more efficient one so I did a bit of research and found the Kitchenaid Artisan 5KFPM770. What a machine, it is quite heavy so it has to stay on the worksurface but it is beautiful looking. Mine is Red, but you can get lots of other colours, about 12 I think. I bought it about 2 weeks ago, so am still learning about it, but since then I have baked two cakes, mixed pastry and whisked merangues and mashed potato, so I have done a fairly good test on it. I have found it brilliant at all of these, I have had the lightest mashed potato ever. Very stable, easy to use and beautiful. The big paddle does all the hard work, the whisk does merangues/sponges etc and the dough hook, well does dough. The cookbook you have to send to Belgium for after you buy the machine, but it is a hardback book and has some lovely recipes in it.