I am sad that I cannot give this a full 5 stars, but since Cuisinart refuses to answer my concerns about this product, I must make sure the people are aware of the issues.

I have bought two of these in less than 6 years. I take really good care of my items; I still have the original box and foam inserts just in case I needed to move it or ship it back for warranty purposes (explanation in a minute).

The side buttons that you push to pop out the grill plates are plastic and one will break after a couple years of frequent use. That means, you have no button to push and the metal underneath is inside the machine-not easy to access. I bought the second panini grill for the same issues as the first one in March 2015, not having kept original receipt to know if it was under warranty, so I was thrilled to see that this one was still within the three year warranty.

I called the Warranty number and was told that I'd have to ship it back and the cost was on me. You're also expected per their warranty paperwork to pay an additional $10 to get a repaired/refurbished/potentially new one back. I did ask to have that second fee waived, as it seemed unfair. So, I go to the U.S. Post Office with the machine in its original pristine box.

It was $38.12 to ship via ground and $42 for priority. I was shocked. The box looks so brand new that the agent assumed it was and she joked to the other postal worker did she want to buy it from me? I explained that it needed repair and her jaw dropped. She too thought it was absurd that they would not send me a postal order as the weight and the fact it has to go cross-country is what makes the shipping so much. I decided that for more than half the price of the item, it didn't make sense to ship. I checked with UPS and they too were over $24. I mean, I can see paying $15, but this is too much money for a $59.99 item (that I paid $91 with tax in 2015 when it was still a higher price as their newer model).

So I called Cuisinart back and explained my case. I was told that if I wanted to use the Warranty, I had to ship it because that is what I agreed to-did I have a choice? They wouldn't even offer me $34 towards a brand new one.

I really loved this product and am disappointed that Cuisinart makes their warranty policy difficult to honor. I even contacted them on Facebook privately to see if they'd look into my case and work with me, but they didn't even bother to respond.

I wonder if the extended warranty offered here on Amazon by the third party would not make me jump through hoops if I wanted to buy another one. Just not sure I am wasting my money or not. I don't like the ethics of a warranty that costs you a fortune in order of fit to be honored.

As for the machine itself:

The pros:
-makes a great panini;
-great for indoor grilling meat/fish/vegetables ;
-awesome griddle (makes best hash browns);
-nonstick plates;
-can buy waffle plates to make waffles;
-can make eggs, bacon, hash browns at the same time when it's flat

Cons:

-Buttons that hold the grill plates are plastic and don't last long
-Warranty is three years, but if you contact them, they require you to ship the entire product back and shipping is over $34 through the U.S. Postal Service on ground shipping (not priority). You're expected to pay $10 in addition to get a repaired/refurbished/potentially new one back.

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I'm a chef, so perhaps my expectations are too high, but I was entirely disappointed in this product. It has so much promise, but it looks and feels cheaply made. It is very light, and it rattles when you move it because none of the parts fit snugly. I can't imagine it has the durability to last long especially if is used a lot. The grease trap is awkward and a bit of a challenge to remove.

It does not cook well. The handbook says it takes 10 minutes to heat up - try more like 20 minutes. The minute you put food on it, the temperature drops precipitously, so for most of the cooking time, the grill is struggling to get up to temp. The pannini function is sketchy at best because the top griddle is not heavy enough to heat product effectively or to get good grill marks.

As a professional cook, I would not purchase or recommend this product. A good cast iron skillet does a better job and lasts forever. As it is, the griddle does not live up to the Cusinart name, which until I ordered this, has always meant good quality products that cook well and last a long time - not this one.

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I purchased this Cuisinart Griddler because my husband and I just weren’t happy with our George Foreman Grill 

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I bought this two years ago. I really liked it at first, sans the dripping fat down the back, and I even purchased one for my daughter in college. After about a year, I found it didn't sear near as well as it did when new. The last time I used it, I made two 1/2-in burgers. I pre-heated it on high for 15 minutes - it ended up with a semi brown mess. I have since thrown it away. I never said anything to my daughter about it - she called last week and said, "Mom, I hate to tell you this, but I don't much like this unit." She had the exact same problems. Shheeez - $200 down the drain. Now I'm searching for a replacement.

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We had the original griddler for at least 10 yrs. It served us well and we used it mostly during late fall and over the winter when BBQing wasn't an option.
When I saw the the new griddler I immediately saw that they had changed some of the features that I didn't like on the original.
1. The plates are now reversible from grill to flat so you don't have to store the extra set of plates.
2. The grease catching system is now enclosed rather than positioning 2 cups near the edges to catch the drips, which was awkward as if they weren't positioned perfectly the grease ended up on the counter and they tipped easily if you accidentally hit them. I used to just place some paper towel on the counter at each corner to catch any drips.
3. the space between the grills is wider allowing for easier clean up and the coating seems better than before.
We use it often, mostly as a grill and panini press but occasionally the flat side for pancakes.
All in all it is a great product and am looking forward to using it for at least another 10 years.

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Really struggles to maintain heat in griddle setting. Not great for frying eggs, French toast, or anything that requires a sustained frying temperature. It takes forever to get up to temperature, holds it for about 10-15 seconds and cools way down and takes several minutes to recover (frying an egg took 20 minutes to get up to heat and get it barely cooked)

Works well in panini mode, grilling chicken was quick and the removable plates made cleaning easy, but thats all I'd expect to use it for from now on

UPDATE: Total waste of money. Really cannot hold heat for more than a few seconds in any mode. Very disappointing, better off buying separate appliances that can do what they are supposed to

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I would have given this a higher score if it was exactly what it claims to be, but the 5-in-1 is a complete stretch.
The top grill seems to have a lower temperature than the lower grill, so you really have to watch the bottom and not judge if something is done by the top. Also the bottom grill, if using to cook on directly the area towards the front of the plate is hotter than the back. Not sure why it's like that. Maybe I got a dud?

Panini's are great, don't get me wrong, but if you plan on using this for the griddle function or to use the grill to make burgers etc, I'd look elsewhere. I made a bacon and egg meal using the griddle and had the temp on high, and it took forever to cook my food. Not only did it take ages to get back up to temperature, because it wasn't holding temp very well the egg I put on the griddle starting going straight into the drip tray in the back because the surface isn't completely flat to let grease get into the tray. Little disappointing because I was hoping to mainly use it for panini's and pancakes, but even pancakes, it takes too long to bother. It does get very hot, but the distribution and retention is horrible.

I've used it for making steak and chicken, and while it does a decent job, it doesn't really give the meat a nice sear unless you leave it too long and dry it out.

A+ for Panini's F for everything else.

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Have used this for a couple months now and really enjoy it. The grease trap works well, the plates are easy to clean, and it cooks my food thoroughly. Certainly a lot better than making things in a fry pan.

As others have said is the top plate doesn't get quite as hot as the bottom, likely due to the whole "hot air rises" thing. They probably should have bumped up the power in the top element to compensate, though that could have caused problems when you open it flat and use both plates. It's not a huge difference, and if it bothers you a simple solution is to flip your food half-way through the cooking.

Another issue is the "hot" part of each plate is more towards the middle, the edges don't get nearly the same heat, just due to where the element is under the plates: The element only starts a few cm from the edge. My guess is this was intentional as otherwise the body of the grill would get dangerously hot (not that it's exactly safe now, but I can imagine it being a lot worse). As such, you really can't get more than about 2 normal-sized hamburgers or sandwiches cooking on there at once unless you don't mind rotating them and moving them around to get them all cooked evenly. The plates are some kind of Teflon-coated metal so they do spread the heat around but again due to the laws of thermodynamics you just can't get it to be the same temperature all the way to the edge. I don't consider it a huge problem as food cooks really fast on this compared to other options, but it's something to keep in mind if you hope to make a lot of food at a time.

A few other issues people should be aware of before buying this:
- The top plate is rather heavy. Great for a panini press, but if you are hoping to make something like a grilled cheese sandwich you may need to stick something between the halves to prevent crushing your bread (unless you like that)
- The top plate unlocks to freely rotate to ensure proper contact with food of various heights. However, this means when you go to open it the top tends to stay horizontal, which can lead to dripping fat/oil behind the unit. Solved by using a spatula or oven mitt to push the top-plate back into the "locked" position as you lift it so it keeps dripping onto the bottom plate and into the drip tray
- The drip tray is not cat-proof.
- The metal body of the grill gets REALLY hot; the handle is fine but you'll need oven mitts to touch any other part.

Overall, great product, would buy again, but there's always room for improvements!