Should I purchase a hand mixer or a stand mixer?

• Hand Mixers: Hand mixers are the traditional mixers that you hold in your hand as you mix ingredients in a separate bowl. They are especially good for whipping cream, beating egg whites, mixing cake batter, and mashing potatoes. Hand mixers are simple appliances, and consequently, are affordably priced between ten and seventy-five dollars. Hand mixers usually have a basic look, and many models advertise features such as a bowl rest or a cord wrap. The best hand mixers also have a slanted handle that allows the cook to easily hold the mixer upright for several minutes at a time.
• Stand Mixers: Stand mixers are the new innovation in the mixer realm. These mixers have a larger, bulkier body than hand mixers, and they do most of the work for you. You drop the ingredients into the built-in bowl, lower the mixer head, turn it on, and the attached beaters begin mixing. Obviously, these mixers are more convenient than a hand mixer, and they also offer more powerful mixing, which helps on heavier tasks such as mixing cookie dough. Like hand mixers, some stand mixers offer additional features, such as a splash guard, an extra bowl, attachments that allow you to grind meat, stuff sausage and more, and planetary action (the beaters move one direction while the bowl rotates in the opposite way). Unfortunately, at forty to four hundred dollars, stand mixers are also significantly more expensive than hand mixers, and they also weigh approximately twenty pounds and require plenty of space.