Many people today want one of the best rice cookers to make their own rice at home that is as good as we can get from a restaurant. This is really easy now a days because there are quite a few companies that make specialist rice cooking appliances that are sold across the country. For me, Zojirushi, a Japanese electronics manufacturer is the brand that you want to choose. Their machines are not cheap so this may be an obstacle for some. However the rice that they make is second to none.
The Zojirushi rice cooker that I use is similar to the NP-HBC10 but is a 3 cup rice cooker. The best 3 cup machine in their range is the NP-GBC05. It can make excellent rice. So far I have used it to make more than just rice. This morning I had steel cut oats for breakfast and last night I made a hot pot type dish. That is the beauty of these appliances, they can be used for more than just plain rice.
To be honest, even though a top of the range Zojirushi rice cooker is expensive, it is possible to make much more than just plain rice in your cooker. I plan on making my own dinner using my rice cooker most nights of the week. This is instead of eating out. So getting one of the best rice cookers, even though it is not cheap, will certainly save me money over the mid to long term. In fact I think that I will be saving money once I have used my machine for about a month.
There are other brands that you may want to consider. Sanyo are the other notable Japanese firm that has many models for sale in the United States and Canada. If you want the best rice cooker, Zojirushi or Sanyo is your best bet.