Do any of you have, and make frequent use of your bread machine? Yes, I have a Rival.
Is it as idiotproof as "set it and forget it?" Sort of. You can't let the "dry" ingredients hit the liquid too soon and sometimes you need to check on it to make sure the dough isn't too wet or dry while it's mixing. There shouldn't be a problem if you mak a "well" in the center of the flour and pour your yeast and dry ingredients in that. If the dough looks a little too dry, make sure you only add 1 teaspoon of water at a time or it could become too wet and you will need to add flour. There's a lot of helpful websites, blogs, and bread machine communities on the web. Here a great link to get started with: http://www.breadmachinedigest.com/ It includes how to choose a bread machine.
Is it costly to own, use, operate, maintain? No, very easy. It has a little bin/pan you lift out to clean. All you have to do is dump the ingredients in and press a button and it will do the rest. You can have it just make dough for you, which is really nice since the machine will do all the kneading and rising. (You don't have to hunt for a warm room for the dough to rise in.
:)) The only think I'm a little disapointed in mine is that it eventually got a brown patina inside from the heat.
Is it versatile? Yes! You can make pizza, fried dough, white bread, wheat bread, zucchini bread, banana bread, sweet rolls, dinner rolls, etc. You can even use your own recipes, just remember to put the liquid in first, then the flour, make a well and put the dry ingredients in the well and you're in business. The pizza's great and fresh.
Other thoughts? My son loved it when he was a toddler/young child. Later on he wanted the store bread, because his lunch looked different than the other kids. Now he's a teenager and I can't get him to touch a sandwich to save his life! Thanks for reminding me I have it. Can't wait for the summer when the onions and chives are up....I'll be able to make fried pizza dough with green onion/chives. (It's a Chinese thing.) Maybe I should make some steamed pork buns while I'm at it. It Makes the best dough for that!