I have a Breadman Ultimate that I've had for about 4 years. I make 100%
whole wheat bread nearly all of the time and it has held up well, but a
friend of mine had one fail in only one year. She bought her machine about
a year after I did, and they may have changed the manufacturing process.
The most recent edition of Laurel's Bread Book has developed a recipe with
programming times for the Breadman (I'm sure it would work for the Zo, too)
which work really well for whole wheat bread.
BUT when my Breadman bites the dust, I will replace it with a Zo. Hearing
about other people's experience with more recent Breadmans makes me leery
of investing another $100 in a machine that may not hold up for my baking
needs.
Ricka