Machines · what the machine is
An element in a slot
This is the simplest machine in the catalog and the one whose listings lean hardest on a count. Take the count away and the description that remains is a slot, a width, a tray for crumbs and a control.
What the listings describe
Every toaster listing here states a slice count. Most state a scale of browning positions, under one of several names. A few name individual buttons, most commonly defrost, reheat, cancel and bagel. One states a slot width as a measurement rather than as the adjective the rest of the category uses. One states a wattage.
That is the whole description. Nothing in any of these listings is a claim about a result, and this site makes none either.
What the numbers attach to
The slice count attaches to the slots and does not move. The shade count attaches to the control and moves freely between listings, including between machines of different slice counts. The wattage attaches to the element and appears exactly once in this category.
Because the shade count is the figure that varies most and describes the machine least, it is the figure this category is sold on.
What this site does not say
Nothing about operation, cleaning, placement or connection appears anywhere on this site. Those questions belong to the manual that came with the machine, and to the maker who wrote it.
What does not change when the count changes
The slot count and the slot width. A listing can lengthen its shade scale, rename it, or drop it altogether, and the machine is still a slot with an element beside it that takes the same number of slices it took before.