Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I purchased these for myself to replace a set of Cuisinart cookware that I had owned for about nine years, which I thought was pretty impressive. I compared a lot of different ones, looking at reviews, prices, Consumer Reports, etc., and this seemed to be the best. Unfortunately, I am not very happy with this set. First, the good: - These are nice and heavy, and seem to conduct heat well. - There are lots of different-sized pans, so you can use the right one for the right application. - They're nice looking. Now the bad: - The nonstick coating doesn't seem to be very durable. I only use wood or plastic utensils when I cook, and the pots and pans are already showing scratches (I've only owned them for a month or so.) - Speaking of the nonstick coating, it doesn't work all that well. I have to scrub reasonably hard to get food off of them. - The handles are too small for heavy pans like these. That makes them rather awkward to hold. - The handles on the lids get really hot, to the point where you have to lift them wearing potholders. - This set doesn't include a good, deep 4-qt saucepan. (It does have a dutch oven, but the diameter isn't right for sauteing a bunch of items.) The 3.5-qt saucepan just isn't quite deep enough, and so there is a lot of splatter. In sum, if it weren't such a pain to pack all this up and ship it back, I would return this set in a heartbeat.