I am in the market for my first KA and I'm wondering if the difference in wattage between the 5qt Professional HD series (475 watts) and the 5qt Artisan (325 watts) means a big difference in power. The Professional is a bowl lift model and the Artisan is a tilt head. There is about a $40 between the two models with the Prof HD series coming with the 3 basic attachments and the Artisan model, having less wattage but more attachments is higher in retail, BUT with my coupon, would end up being less than the Prof Series. Of course, the Artisan sounds good to me because I will get more attachments cheaper, but 150 less watts. My intentions are basically to mix cake batter and buttercream icing and since I'm a newbie, I don't have a high volume of orders.

Is 325 watts enough? Who else has a 325 watt mixer and what's been your experience?

TIA for your time; I appreciate your input.
Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter.

This isn't really the info you are looking for but you may want to consider a Cuisinart. I just purchased one after a lot of research and talking with individuals who have Cuisinarts, some converts from KAs. I've never had a KA so I can't compare them.

I love Cuisinart - all 800 watts. My husband likes to say that Dale Jr wants it back for Sunday's race! Mine came with 3 beaters (flat paddle, whip and dough hook) and a spatter shield that is the best thing I've ever seen. I purchased it from Amazon for $239 with free shipping. Most of the time it runs $299 but if you watch it, it will go on sale every few weeks.

I've used the Artisan for my cake batter, cookie dough and buttercream icings for about 10 years now. I am a home-baker and this works well for me. I am very happy with it. I have never had any problems. HTH.

Thanks for the help guys. I appreciate it.