Cindy:
I have got a Breadman Plus that I purchased about 8 years ago and just love
it. Have never had any problems with it and use it quite often. My sister
and sister in law also purchased at the same time and have not had problems
either. I just purchased 2 Breadman TR555's the second week of January
because Wal-Mart SuperCenter had them on clearance for $22 each. Since I
love my Breadman Plus I thought at that price I should pick up 2. I was
going to put them away but decided to try them out to make sure they worked
properly. Had all 4 of my Breadman's going last week at the same
time. All worked perfectly fine. Purchased the TR845 a year ago from
Sam's Club also on clearance after Christmas for $28.00. Maybe you can
check with Wal-mart in your area and see if they might still have some.
I know it is frustrating when you pay so much because I know that the
Ultimate is much more expensive than the other ones but at least you can
use it to knead your breads. Personally, I like to bake more of my breads
in the oven than have the machine do it.
Rosemary