After 12 years, my hand mixer died in the middle of baking my daughter's birthday cake - 11pm at night. Disaster that prompted me to replace it asap. After some research, I settled on the Kenwood HM 791. I've now used it about 20 times and my feelings towards it are mixed. It is very nice looking and sleek and has a great, heavy weight to it (which some may not like as it is heavier than most hand mixers on the market). Another small point, is that the attachments are a little fiddly to click into place. Rather than a simple, no thinking shoving them in until they click, I always need to take an extra 2-3 seconds to position the second one correctly before it will click into place.
It comes on a stand that not only holds the mixer but the two sets of attachment (the standard mixing set and the kneading set). The stand is lightweight and flimsy. However, what annoys me most is the cord. It wraps around the base or back end of the mixer but unravels so that I just end up leaving it half "unwrapped" most of the time. This further reduces the usefulness of the stand and I'm not sure how long I'll use it.
The speed settings are fine but my last mixer had 10 so I think I'm missing the greater flexibility that gives.
I bought this mixer when it was on sale and overall, I dont regret the purchase as it works and looks nice. The disappointment of the stand, cord and additional speeds are things that I am sure I will get used to or learn to live with. If you use a handmixer predominantly to make cakes, beat eggs, etc... then this is a good choice. I think for sturdier mixing like kneading, there are better options on the market.
