Ranges: high end moves down.

Powerful elements or burners and dual-fuel designs with a gas cooktop and an electric oven are among the latest pro-style features that have migrated to the mainstream. But as with pro-style stores, some of those features may be less than they seem.

For example, you'll find several new dual-fuel ranges for about $1,000, rather than the $2,000 to $3,000 typical for most. That price may sound like a bargain if you value the visual response of a gas flame with the familiarity of an electric oven. But our tests show there is little to justify the added cost of dual-fuel models, including the lowest-priced versions.

Spending $1,000 or so can also get you a gas-only range with cooktop heat to rival or surpass the 15,000 British thermal units per hour (Btu/hr.) typical of pricier, pro-style stoves. While the added heat can be a plus for searing and stir frying, some of the most powerful stoves are relatively slow at heating and unimpressive at simmering.

Manufacturers are also wooing you with high-tech controls and preset cooking modes. As with dual-fuel and ultrahigh heat, however, some ranges with these features may not deliver the performance they imply. The details:

Controls behind the screen. Digital oven touchpads are quickly replacing knobs on nearly all mainstream models. Several new Kenmore Elite models from Sears place an ATM-like glass touch screen over the controls.

Besides adding style, the flush screen is easy to clean and convenient to use--at least when it's on the backsplash, as it is on most freestanding ranges. But bumping into the screen and accidentally changing settings can be a problem on slide-in versions, which lack finished sides and a backsplash and have the screen up front to give them a more built-in look.

More presets, more confusion. Electronic controls have spawned an array of preset oven programs that include Pizza, Cake, and others like the ones on microwave ovens. Some of these can add complexity, rather than ease. And some can yield disappointing results.