Range Cookers under £1000 - what do you recommend?

[babysaurus]

We want to buy a range cooker, freestanding, our new house. We did like a Smeg one but have since read opinions on MN (and due to MN I seem to no longer have a mind of my own) which are less than flattering so am wondering about other makes / designs.
I know there was a thread on range cookers recently but a lot of them were more than £1500 / 2000 which we can't really afford.
So, any tips....?
Thank you

Don't go for Smeg! We've had lots of problems with ours. Sorry, not helpful I know but will be watching this thread with interest ...

Buy mine! But seriously I don't think you can go wrong with a Rangemaster, also people I know with Stoves ranges have recommended them. If I could find it I'd buy one secondhand, cookers are a good buy used as there's not much to go wrong and you can get all the parts if it does.

Flavel Aspen - has 8 gas burners, 2 electric ovens (one is fan assisted), seperate electric grill & pan storage compartment. Got it via internet for 480.00 brand new (price varied up to 580.00 from Boots) last month & am really pleased with it. The only criticism I make is that the pan supports are all the same size, so very small saucepans are too unstable to use safely. Otherwise a great buy for the price & & various people in the know have told me that Flavel (aka Leisure) is a well respected brand.

Thanks everyone.
I have gone off the Smeg idea since reading MN! Never thought of secondhand, but will look into it now and see. I love the Rangemaster one's but they are too much, when bought new anyway.
I have heard that Stoves can be a bit crap but it seems as if this is not the norm...?

Had a very quick look on Ebay and there are quite a few Rangemasters for sale - up to about £600. Is this worth looking into? (We are a while off ordering an oven as not even got a kitchen fitted but would like to have a bit of knowledge for when the time comes!)

We've had our Stoves range for 6 years and it's fantastic. Agree that Smegs are useless, although they do look very nice.

Cool - the Smeg we liked was cheaper than we thought it would be but clearly they are a bit of a liability! Need to research further! Want something as good as poss re cash, rather than spending on cheap that needs to be replaced so need to look into second hand I reckon.
May change mind again in 5 mins though!