Bread Maker

I have a very old Panasonic bread maker....it works great but makes only a smaller 1 lb. loaf.
I just follow the recipes that came with the machine and never have problems. There are lots of books at the library for special recipes too.
One of the keys I found is to use fresh ingredients....not stuff that has been sitting around the house for months.
My favorite is the 50% whole wheat and 50% bread flour version. Awesome toasted.
I bought this one after going to our local department store where they had a department called "Marketplace" in the old Dayton-Hudson store...they tested every bread maker they carried and told me the Panasonic was the most consistent and easiest to use...and I confirm that. I have had it over twenty years. Love the smell of baking bread in my house. I would check into Panasonic and see what they have updated since I bough mine, and ask
around like you are doing. One feature they have is the automatic yeast dispenser, timed just right.
Great to set the timer and wake up to just baked bread on a weekend morning.
Cinnamon raisin also is fantastic. Since I have recently had bariatric surgery I have not had bread for months,
but...my day will come soon when I can return to an occasional slice of bread. Recently I have been looking for recipes for high protein bread machine bread.....you'll enjoy making your own bread. Good luck.