Nope - there are lots of choice. Yo won't like teh price as they are all the same or more then the Jenn Air.

Flush with the cooktop or counter there are few choices:

Gaggenau, Miele,

If you have some depth and don't mind a pop up downdraft of @ 8"-12" there are many choices:

Dacor, Gaggenau, Wolf, Broan ,GE, Electrolux, Fridgidaire, Bosch, Zephyr, and others.

You can have my Jenn-Aire..... Down draft, smooth top. Looks nice. I hate it.
Takes forever to warm up, have had to replace three control knobs.
Just counting the days until it gets old enough that I can replace it with a conduction.
Having had gas, and now forced to use electric (no gas line in front of our house -- don't want to deal with propane) I wish I could go back to gas. Maybe conduction will be the compromise I'm looking for.

Meant induction, obviously, not conduction, above

I know that Dacor has one.

You say cooktop so I would look into a telescope downdraft behind the cooktop. I have had a JA downdraft & Thermador with telescope, the latter being superior.

If you can do it I think a telescoping downdraft would work well. We have a huge bay window in the kitchen and didn't want a hood over the island blocking the view. We installed a Dacor gas cooktop with the Dacor pop-up vent behind it with a remote blower and it works fine. The Dacor comes in 2 different RPM's - 600 and 1000. We have the 600 RPM's. Thermadore also makes a good unit.

I am dealing with the exact problem. Have been told I am stuck with using Jenn Air for downdraft but have heard many many many negative reports on it. There are many options by putting in the cooktop with pop up down draft BUT you can't place a wall oven underneath (the pop up downdraft need the room to go down into). I really can't find another place for my wall oven.

I have a GE with a built in downdraft. It has 4 electric burners with the downdraft in the middle. The cooktop works great, but the vent doesn't do a great job. Steam goes up, and it takes a lot of fan to bring it down.

I'm getting an induction cooktop and made the decision to not get a telescoping downdraft behind it. My cooktop is on the island, so space is not a problem. It's just that they don't work that well . I live in a 2 story house, so I can't vent up. I'm choosing no vent until I can afford a ceiling remodel for a traditional range hood. Is there any way you can design venting so you don't have to get a downdraft?

scrapula - you can get an island hood and vent up through the ceiling - even with a two story house, you might be able to find a path for the duct up to the roof - alternatively you could move the cooktop off the island to a wall which will make your hood options a bit easier.

Miele 36 induction with the Dacor downdraft+remote blower (1000 cfm) works great. The air flow can be loud. I could not imagine the blower integrated. I was also able to have 3 drawers under the cook top with 20-22 inch deep drawers in a 32 inch deep cab in the cooktop area.

4.5 in front ledge + 20 in cooktop + 4 in downdraft + 3.5 in behind. rough sizing

We have a Broan 36" downdraft behind our gas Electrolux range in the island. It works great!

I ordered a new electric jenn-air JX3 - the 475cfm is the strongest out there in downdraft- it will be total smooth,no knobs-touch control- I had to go with a downdraft & like you read all the negatives-install is Dec 29-got no response when asked if anyone had one-told the previous model hadn't changed for years-will let you know

We have the Jenn Air JXDR736 600 cfm pop up downdraft behind a Blue Star cooktop. Much better than the hated Jenn Air gas cook top with integrated downdraft. Obviously not as good as hood, but like you, I didn't want to block ocean view with the hood. Works very well when using back burners and about 70% efficient when on high heat front burners. Only set smoke alarm off once, when searing a steak.

Good luck

We have a Thermador downdraft and have been pleased with it. Previously, prior to the remodel we had a Dacor downdraft; however we had a number of repair problems.

akbudke, what did you decide on your downdraft range?
I have the same problem and I am wondering what option others are choosing. So frustrating.

So from this thread, looks like the Thermador pop-up down-draft is the best choice for function and noise, right?

I currently have a Jenn-Air 4-burner electric downdraft cooktop in my island, and I hate it. It is old, came with the house, don't have model number. One large burner heats to cherry red on high and burns the pot and contents. One small burner does not get hot on low. I have to turn it to med high and then down. And remember to turn it to low and wait. Grrr.

Since I am finally getting a gas line, but have limited wall and counter space, I was considering a range or a cooktop and double wall oven. Thought I would look at gas downdraft units, only found a KA Architect with an integrated downdraft and 4 burners. I want 5 or 6, 4 is inadequate for my needs. I was surprised to find that several downdraft cooktops were quite cheap, then discovered that you have to buy the pop-up downdraft hood separately, and they are $1000 and up! So you are still looking at $2000+. I don't want a hood over the island as I have a huge custom pot rack there, and don't want the expense of venting to the outside. UGH. Good luck to the OP--how did your choice turn out?