Varying opinions can really confuse a girl

I am feeling a bit irritated at the moment. I just keep on shaking my head and wondering: Why? Why does it have to be like this? You yourself may be asking what the heck are you talking about...so here goes:
There are times in life when purchases have to be made. I am not talking about the day-to-day stuff...like a cute shirt or yogurt or a plant. But I am talking about big, important stuff, that may or may not break and would be expensive to fix: like ovens for example. Nick and I have decided that it is due time to get a new oven. Obvioulsy, since I am the head cook in our household, this gets me really excited about picking one that is just right for me! Yesterday I spent some time on consumer reports getting the overview of what brands are out there, how reliable they are rated and how much they run. If that wasn't overwhelming enough (not to mention completely unsatisfying since I am a kinisthetic person who likes to touch things), I decided to do a little on-line shopping to see what was available. From Sears to Home Depot, Lowes and Deward and Bode...I was up to my head in ovens. Being completely overwhelmed, I shut off the computer and walked away. I needed a break.
This morning, I decided to actually go touch a few...so I headed out to the DeWard and Bode scratch and dent outlet. Turns out they only had 2 viable options for me, one of which was very enticing; a Kitchen Aide - even with it's big ouchie it has on the left hand side. I started drilling the sales guy (who by the way is younger than me - not that it discredits him at all...I just begin to wonder..."how long have you worked here...how many ovens have you seen come in and out of this joint due to failure etc...do you even care about your job or are you just trying to sell me anything to make a buck?) with questions that once answered I can begin to compare with what consumer reports had to say. As it turns out, he strongly disagrees with what consumer reports reports on some equipment. He says he sees more GE than anything else coming in there for repairs than any other brand (CR rated it lowest likely to be repaired). He then took it upon himself to educate me on the difference between the European Convection and the American Convection, on the style of the coil, the durability of the knobs and the elaborate features ovens have...all of which I greatly appreciated. He even discouraged me from buying a more expensive oven because the one I had leaned toward may be a better fit for what I am looking for. I am beginning to really like the sales guy and begin to wonder if CR is really as good as they say they are. I ask him about their delivery fee, how quickly I can get it and the extended warranty plan. I ask him to put it on hold for me and I will let him know...then I move on to the next victim.
Now that I have a pretty good idea of the standard Q&A exchange, I feel well equipped when I walk into Home Depot. I began to wonder through the oven section...opening each one and checking out the options. This behavior obviously attracts sales people, thus "Larry" (the names have been changed to protect the innocent) approaches me. He asks if he can help me and I begin to probe him with a similar line of questioning that I just experienced at D&B. Contrary to what the other dude said, Larry has quite a different opinion: GE to him is the very best. In fact...when he redoes his kitchen next year, everything will be GE. Now I am getting a little concerned. Is he going off of personal experience? Is he just going off of consumer reports? What are his qualifications? So then I ask about delivery/warranty/tow away of the old oven, etc and he gets really salesie on me. Starts talking about 0% interest for one year (Dave Ramsey would have a fit) and how "he" has 2000 more ovens on-line, "he" just doesn't have the floor space to fill it with ovens. I don't mean to sound horrifically judgemental, I am just getting a little confused and information overloaded on the varying options out there. So I thank him for his time and head out. Next....Lowes.
Now I am really determined to drill this oven guy to see how he feels about different brands. I feel well equipped with the 2 conversations I just had and hope that this guy can keep up. As it turns out "oven guy" was not much of an information supplier. First he had to look up if the Kitchen Aide they had on display was an European or American convection (unlike the other two guys...they could tell by looking at it). Secondly, he thought all the ovens did "pretty good" and don't really test the difference between the baking vs. cooking capability (obviously he had never been on consumer reports because those are two big comparisons, as well as broiling, low heat and high heat). But he did raise a good point...the more bells and whistles you get the greater chance of needing to repair it. Especially now a days with the internal computers that operate the digital temperature mode. Yikes! Guess the extended warranty is a good idea...I have a hard enough time with the computer I am typing on, I couldn't' imagine an oven computer. I thanked the guy and went on my way.
When I got home I pulled up the specific model from D&B that I really liked from consumer reports. Low and behold: not tested, therefor no report. This bummed me out, then I got to asking myself the "Why does it have to be like this" question. I mean really. There are as many opinions out there as there are people. To each their own as the saying goes...but how is this supposed to help me make an informed decision? Do I trust the information from the guy who is most likeable? Do I trust the guy who takes the most time to teach me stuff, even if it is different from consumer reports? Can I even make a good judgement from consumer reports if they don't even analyze the product I am wanting to purchase? Ahhhhh....it is all just so frustrating!
So now, I have resorted to the best decision making process that works for me in the past: I ask people I know and care about for their opinion...and...not only listen to what they are saying, but also listen to myself asking about it. I can get a pretty good gut check by verbal processing things....sometimes I will be in the middle of asking Nick something and they stop mid sentence and say I have figured it out; never mind. This of course doesn't bode well with him so I give the whole thought process just to give him mind rest. But really and truly, saying things out loud really helps. Thus far, I have talked to my dad and Nick about it. And thus far, I have felt good about the Kitchen Aide option. Nick and I are going to check it out once more tonight before we commit. This will help me too...seeing things for a second time always reinforces my decisions. I will let you know how it goes. Thanks for listening...blogging is another way for me to "verbally process."