Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I have been using super-automatic espresso machines since 2001. This is my 6th machine and by far my favorite. Having owned one Capresso C1500, three Jura-Capressos, one Saeco and now the Gaggia Academia, I've found this machine to outperform the rest by far. I loved the quality of the Capresso and Jura-Capresso machines, but having to send them in once a year for service at a cost of over $300 was excessive. There is no way to service the inside of these machines. Plus, I could never get the milk hot enough with the built-in frothing system on the S9 One-Touch or the Z5 and these machines lacked an external frothing wand so it was impossible to heat the milk any hotter than it came out of the machine. Next I purchased Saeco Primea Touch Plus and that was a complete mistake. The milk system is internal and constantly clogged and refused to function. This machine was returned shortly after purchase. I began looking for a machine that was as well-constructed as the Jura-Capresso, but had the ease of maintenance like the Saeco. I learned that Philips had recently purchased the Saeco/Gaggia company, so I decided to take a chance on a Gaggia machine after seeing a demo in-store. What I Like: - The machine is fully adjustable by coffee strength, milk amount, water amount, etc. You can even adjust these settings on the fly via the color screen. - The machine is bomb-proof. Another reviewer noted that there is still a lot of plastic and yes this is true (although much less so than in Jura machines), but the machine is all metal where it counts. In the in-store demo, the demonstrator lifted the machine by its hinges to show how well it is constructed. This machine will undoubtedly hold up to years of use. - The machine has a "sealed" bean container that keeps the beans fresher that other brands of super-automatics that lack this feature. - The automatic frothing container could not be any easier to use. You snap it in a press a button. It automatically cleans itself after use and any leftover milk can be left in the container and refrigerated for next use eliminating waste. - Machine rinses itself before and after every use, so there is no "old" coffee taste when you brew your next cup. - The quality of coffee is amazing! This machine produces coffee very close the the Pasquini semi-automatic at my office. The quality is much better than my Jura machines. - The Mavea water filter removes the chlorine taste from tap water and lessens the amount of maintenance you must perform on the machine. - The adjustable coffee "spout". One of my biggest complaints with the Jura machines is that you aren't able to fit a proper sized cup under the automatic spout. You're limited to cups about 4" in height. Because of the nearly infinite adjustments available on this machine, my 16 oz to-go mug fits no problem. - The built-in frothing wand. Most of the milk that comes out of super-automatic machines is not hot enough if the latte or cappuccino is not going to be consumed immediately. This is not a problem with this machine. If the milk is not hot enough simply activate the built in steaming wand and heat it up a few more degrees. This is one of the few fully automatic machines that has this feature. - The ease of maintenance - my favorite feature by FAR. The brew-group is removable. Simply remove it from the machine and rinse it out. No expensive trips back to the manufacturer for cleaning. What I don't: - The price. This machine is very expensive. If you have couple-of-times-a-day trip to S'bux like I did, then the machine will pay for itself in about a year. However, it still in the same ball park as a lot of nice used cars. - The pickiness with coffee beans. With super-automatics you can not use beans that are oily AT ALL. This limits my bean choice and I am unable to use the beans of some of my favorite artisan coffee roasters. - The frequency of emptying the internal and external drip trays as well as spent coffee pucks. The machine has two trays and an internal coffee grounds drawer and they have to be emptied at least every other day or about after every five coffees. The Jura-Capressos had very large drip trays and dump bins that only had to be emptied about once a week. This can be annoying if you're in a hurry in the morning and the machine flashes this message before you can brew a coffee. - The small water tank. This tank is very well designed, but it must be refilled after about 6 coffees. My Jura machines would brew about 20. My complaints are very few and after using this machine for over 6 months, I couldn't be happier. Even with the high price, I believe I got exactly what I paid for - a well-built machine that easily brews quality coffee and coffee drinks with ease of use and little maintenance. I would highly recommend this machine to anyone l who loves coffee, but doesn't want to grind, tamp, brew espresso, and froth milk manually. Within 30 seconds, you can have a coffee drink that rivals that of all but the best baristas.