I have stainless steel small appliances (coffee maker, can opener, coffee grinder, toaster, etc) and haven't experienced a scratching problem, of course YMMV depending on whether you have kids, etc.
In large appliances, Frigidaire seems to offer the best prices from what I've seen lately, and IIRC Whirlpool gets the highest quality scores. Haven't gotten the opportunity to try the LG or Samsung varieties.