It came down to the knobs

Finally got to look at the LG range. Right away I did not like the idea of electronic controls for the rangetop burners. While this may be adequate, call me old-fashioned for thinking that traditional knobs represent a better interface.

This actually reminds me when cars started having electronic (or vacuum) controls for heating/air conditioning and dash instruments in the 1980s and how this progressively went back to straightforward dials. I believe this is a matter of understanding the relationship between a state to its range of possible values, and a dial with a pointer is much faster to read (or set). A burner set to 5 is harder to understand than medium.

The Brault & Martineau liquidation center in Brossard had a floor demo Samsung FTQ386LWX (FTQ386LWUX in the US) for $1299 including a 5 year service contract and delivery. This unit is very similar to the LG but much simpler controls with analog stovetop knobs. I was really impressed with the design, with true 3 fan convection (the oven elements are not used) and a HUGE 5.7 cu. ft. oven capacity and a warming drawer. Also the burners are the same ribbon type found in the Dacor and Viking (and other high-end appliances) and come up to full power in about 5 seconds.

So we get it on Thursday!