I purchased this some time ago (2 years?) based on good reviews, to replace an aging Oster that was underpowered.
Now I must preface my comments by saying that I mostly use a bread machine to mix/knead dough and control it's rising temp. Love to make bread, but don't like to knead or deal with the mess. I put in my own blend of stuff, let it mix to a thick batter and add flour gradually to get the optimum dough consistency. Then I let the machine take over, either letting it bake or more often taking it out so I can PAN and BAKE it in an over.
This machine is frustrating for two reasons:
1) Except on pizza dough setting, the machine will NOT START until it's darn good and ready, usually sitting idle for FORTY MINUTES. It's supposed to be letting stuff get up to temp. I don't need that, I use warm liquids and want it to START!
2) It's no more powerful than my old Oster and chokes on the heavier, whole wheat loaves I like to bake.
The other night, I had it on the pizza dough setting and it walked off the counter. My wife screamed, I came in, saw that the floor was gouged and the door on the machine was sprung. My first thought was: Excellent, now I can get a new machine!
I'm looking at the Zojirushi as it specifically says: "...you have the "Preheat Off" option to save time and immediately begin the kneading process." I hope to someday write a good review for a bread machine. We'll have to see.

I decided that what I'd really like for Christmas is a new bread machine that works better than my very old Oster. I was all ready to buy either Zojirushi or Panasonic because the descriptions and comments (about the older machines) describe well-designed, solid machines that do a good job.

*However, I noticed that the newer reviews are either a little short-sighted ("I've had this machine for a whole month, made 4 loaves of bread, and it still works great..") or they show what happens when beancounters move the manufacturing to China, which is notorious for poor workmanship, cheap, flimsy materials, and machines which quickly break down with ordinary use. It's not worth $200 to me to gamble on whether I'm going to get a decent bread machine or an expensive paperweight.

I'm tired of pampering that old turkey of an Oster. But at least it works, pretty well, 99% of the time. The manual is still a joke, typed and printed by people who don't read English, but I guess I can download some real recipes from the net.

Thanks to all of you, folks. Your collective wisdom saved me from wasting a lot of money at Christmastime. Hope you all have a good Christmas.

Even though I never baked bread before, I have been making near perfect bread with this product. I say near perfect because when using
different recipe books my bread has come out too big. With the book
supplied by panasonic my bread has been perfect. The only drawback to
this machine is you cannot program times for baking etc. This has not
been that much of a problem; however, in the future it might be if
experimenting requires different bake times.

I purchased the Panasonic Bread machine a month ago,and I only made one White Bread so far,and I have to say this machine is great! You save a lot of time and energy,and in the end you have a great tasting fresh loaf of bread,just like from the Bakery.At first I was not sure if I was properly setting the machine up,and after 20 min I had it down pat.There is very little cleaning.So if you enjoy fresh baked bread with very little work,then this is for you.My wife and I were hesitant at first because it would take up out limited counter space,well we only place it on the counter when we want to bake a loaf.now the machine is in a spare room,anyway buy yourself one and you won't be disappointed.

I PURCHASED THIS FROM AMAZON SEVERAL YEARS AGO, AND DUE TO UNFORSEEN DIETARY RESTRICTIONS, IT HAS SEEN VERY LITTLE USE SINCE ITS PURCHASE. MY GUESS WOULD BE, THAT NO MORE THAN TWENTY FIVE LOAVES WERE BAKED IN THIS MACHINE BEFORE IT STOPPED WORKING. THE MOTOR DOES NOT TURN THE PADDLE ANYMORE,IT JUST MAKES A GRINDING SOUND.
I ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT THE PANASONIC NAME STOOD FOR QUALITY AND RELIABLITY, BUT IN THIS CASE IT WAS A COSTLY MISTAKE!