I have the Bosch Universal Plus mixer and am happy with it. The Compact model is much less expensive. From the specs, it looks comparable to the small KitchenAid at a lower cost. But I have no experience with this model. David
I can't recommend the Bosch Compact Kitchen Machine enough. I bought mine a few months back and have been using it once or twice a week to make bread. It's proven to be a very wise purchase. For the $100 I paid for on e-bay, I got an outstanding product that works as advertised. I make lots of heavy dough breads and the motor is always equal to the task. It's also very easy to clean and the blender/slicer attachments are a nice bonus.
I have no trouble mixing any dough recipe that I've tried from Dan Leader's Local Breads book. Most of his recipes make either two or three baguettes/batards or two medium sized rounds or one large round.
How big a batch can it handle? Two normal loaves?
Russ