Lulu thanks for your recommendation, I will check them out. The new Thermochef II has a pause button so that might sway you back to the thermochef?

The TMX lady called me back so now I just need to find 2 other people to come to a demo.

In my research I've also come across the Bellini Multi Function Kitchen Machine from Target which are $399 and have been on sale at some stage for $269 I think it was so loads of people bought it and there's loads of reviews out there. No one is saying that it compares to TMX as far as quality goes but for the price (on sale... or even full price) it's a decent enough machine to consider.

I'm also liking the look of some Tefal & magimix ones.

I have a question, do most food processors come with a 'blender' attachment instead of an actual blender? We need a blender too so was looking for one that has both a bowl and blender but then I thought that the ones that don't have a separate blender probably had a blender blade anyway. I also really want one with a small bowl as well as the large bowl for pestos and dips etc. I also came across a FP that had a chip maker attachment, that sounds cool, do most of them have that ability?

Thanks again

Oh and does anyone know anything about the Vitamix? How does that differ?