Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Pros: +Really good looking (I greatly prefer the brushed exterior over polished) +Set includes a lid that will fit each pan (not all at the same time, though) +Curved lip for easy pouring +Includes exactly the pieces I'd want +Overall build quality rivals that of sets costing 2x the price or more +Will probably last a lifetime Cons: -Does take a bit of work to get used to and maintain (proper preheating and use of oil as well as a bit more elbow grease to clean over non-stick) -Questionable warranty (representative placed strong emphasis on the word "LIMITED" before "Lifetime", customer pays shipping BOTH WAYS). After doing quite a bit of research, I decided to purchase this set of pans over any set I found locally or online. At 209 bucks, I really feel like this was a bargain (it's worth 300, realistically), especially with its excellent and beautiful construction. It's try-ply CLAD, which means three layers (Magnetized Stainless, Aluminum Core, 18/10 Stainless) are used throughout the pan, including up the side walls. Note that not all tri-ply cookware is like this; be careful of "try-ply BASE" cookware which only uses this setup on the bottom of the pan (they're easy to spot because they have a seam around the base of the pan). I almost went for the Tramontina Tri-Ply Clad pieces you can pick up for a reasonable price at Wal-Mart, but decided against it as this set looks better visually and includes all the pieces I wanted; finding all the Tramontina pieces I'd need looked like quite a chore. I didn't believe that I'd be able to cook on such low heat given the fact that my glass electric cooktop has taken so long to cook things in the past, but it really does work great. I pre-heat on level 5 (out of 10) until a water drop "skates" on the cooking surface, then back the heat off to 3.5 for a consistent cooking temp. Works great, seems to cook faster than my previous cookware at higher heat, PLUS no warping on any of these pans so they actually lay flat on my range. If you understand the pros and cons of cooking in stainless and decide to go with it over non-stick, this set is the one to look at if you want something to last a lifetime. The biggest negative for this set is the questionable support. Half of this assertion is based on other peoples' experiences I've read about, and half is for my own experience. I received my set with a dented lid (probably put in the package dented), and Cuisinart's support told me I'd be better off working with Amazon to resolve it since I'd have to pay shipping BOTH WAYS on a defective-out-of-the-box product. He also made sure to place emphasis on the word "Limited" in "Limited Lifetime Warranty", strongly implying that they reserved the right to not cover certain aspects of failure. Interesting, considering mine had arrived with a defective piece straight away. If you end up needing to use your warranty, be prepared to pay nearly as much in shipping (two ways) as a brand new replacement for the piece.