I have a friend who has the a Zojirushi, and she seems to like it. I have a Breadman Plus, and I like it a lot. I just made a 2# loaf last night. I use it for regular or whole wheat bread, as well as banana or zucchini bread. I also use it for pizza dough.

I used to have a Breadman Plus as well. It was awesome.

It is a lot of dedicated counter space, though, and the place I’m living in now just didn’t have the room for it. I did often wish that it made loaves that were longer rather than higher.

Unless you have money to burn and enough knowledge to know that you’ll get a lot of use out of a breadmaker, the best answer to this question is ‘second hand’.

Honestly, I’ve seen top of the line breadmakers under $10 and average breadmakers sell in the $3–5 range.

Buy one.
Try it.
Decide what you like, and what you wish you had.
Shop for features.
Buy on-line. Consider eBay, or second hand – likely you can buy one that’s same-as-new for 10% of retail.

Honestly, breadmakers are a fad who’s time has passed. If you’re going to get one that you like and use constantly, like @Yetanotheruser, do you hands-on homework.

See eBay.

I have a bread maker that I like a lot. At least, I liked it the 4–7 times I used it. It’s lived in the basement these past few years.

Mine is that little West Bend Just For Dinner machine that makes a small ¾ lb loaf. I love it. I’ve had it a long time and, as far as I know, there is no replacement for it. All of the others are large and make a big 2 lb loaf.

I have a Tappan oven. It’s an amazing product. You can cook anything inside it and on top there are these gas burner thingies where you can cook a whole bunch of other stuff—all at the time! It’s really cool! And I have a whole bunch of workspace on my countertops

Yes, @Espiritus_Corvus, but can it make pancakes??

I have one. A friend gave it to me for my birthday about ten years ago. I’ve probably made about 10–15 loaves in it over about a 6 year period. Then, for the past few years, it’s been in the basement. It took up about ¼ of my kitchen cabinet, and it was really like a lot of wasted space for something I didn’t use. The usage didn’t justify the space.

Honestly… you don’t need one. Good bread simply needs a stock pot for baking.

I have a Panasonic from from the late 80s that I still use regularly. Two of my friends have Zojirushis that they use probably 3–4 times a week, they love the timer convenience and get good loaves.