Kitchen-aid Artisan Mixer

I borrowed Susan's Kitchen Aid this past weekend.  She has an Artisan series.  My two favorite things about this mixer is my color choice, I would definitely get a yellow one, and I love the splash guard.  It works better then the one on my Cuisinart.  I really didn't see anything spectacular about it to be honest.  I only made Twinkies in it.  It is only 325 watts which is not very strong.  I do like the handle on the side of the bowl.  I'll be testing out another kitchen aid this weekend, I have a baby shower cake to make, so we'll see how it does on peanut butter buttercream.

It comes with a nylon coated flat beater and a nylon coated dough hook.  Both of the hooks had the nylon coating chipping off.  I don't know about you, but I would not want that stuff in my food.  Chris saw the hook and was like "you aren't cooking with that are you?".  The mixer I borrowed does not have the nylon coating, but they do look very "oxidized" I guess is the word for it.  I took some pictures of the kitchen aid artisan (small silver), kitchen aid professional hd (white), my my Cuisinart (silver), to show you the size differences.  The hd is on the left, Cuisinart in the middle and the artisan on the right.

My bowl is the biggest and so are my beaters.  The professional has the arms to hold the bowl, which is irritating when taking out the bowl.  Neither one has the timer which is one of my favorite features on my Cuisinart.

I'm not sure how old the other mixers are, but I have had mine for 4 1/2 years and have used it a LOT, and mine look a lot better then the kitchen aids'.  I do put them in the dishwasher.  You can tell the difference in the sizes also, mine is a lot bigger which is great for when I do two to three batches at a time.  I'll give you more information about the professional after I test it out this weekend.
To sum up, the kitchen aid artisan is great for a home baker, but if you need something big with a lot of horse power, this is not it.  When baking cakes and making buttercream for church, I usually either double or triple my recipes, and this Kitchen-Aide would not be able to keep up.

I definitely need a bigger kitchen, due to lack of space my waffle maker and popcorn popper sit out on my counter with my mixer.  There was no room to work with 3 mixers sitting on it this weekend!  LOL
I am open to any comments anyone might have about their mixer.  Remember, I am in the market for a new one!  I wish I could test out a Kenmore, they are sold at Sears.  Since I do not have any information on them, it is highly doubtful I would buy one.
In my opinion,
Missy