Stainless goes in the dishwasher. Reason enough right there. DWs ruin most anodized pans.

Stainless can also be cleaned with abrasives if necessary. Yes, it will scratch, but over time, it gets a patina from the scratches that looks lovely. Abrasives will ruin anodized pots. You won't want to use anything harder than a loofah on them.

Good stainless will last for generations. You don't and won't see any heirloom anodized pots and pans.

The QVC stainless 500 cookware is all non-stick. I don't feel you need all pots and pans to be non-stick. Much prefer the stainless inside and out with a few non-stick frying pans.

I really like the Cuisinart cookware line.

I own both anodized and stainless (high end) cookware. I prefer to use the anodized because, well, it performs better. Why is that?

Aluminum simply conducts heat better than stainless steel. Manufacturers of SS cookware will either sandwich a thin sheet of aluminum between two sheets of SS ("clad" or "Tri-ply"), or bond a thicker sheet of aluminum to the bottom of the cookware, in order to get the benefits of aluminum with the aesthetics of SS. These processes vastly improve the performance of the SS cookware, but solid aluminum will always provide superior heating properties.

And, that's why anodized is becoming the "rage". Purists and those that know and understand these properties prefer the performance of anodized.

But most of today's stainless steel cookware can boast very good performance characteristics, and for those who prefer the aesthetics of SS, are a good choice. If you love the look and feel of stainless, go for it. Both sets you're looking at should perform well. But it will be in YOUR kitchen, YOU will have to look at it, YOU will have to use it every day.

Easy, huh?