Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

The more I look at their products, the more I think Breville is trying to be the Apple of small appliances. They clearly research how products are actually used, and then try to improve. The YouBrew has some innovations that I really like - and then I must ask: why are they the only ones who seem to care. Here are the features I like best: #1: Useful LCD display. Every other coffee machine I have tried has - at best - a couple of flashing lights and a simple clock display. The Breville has an backlit LCD display that actually tells me something beyond a flashing '12:00' !!! At first, the display seems overly complicated. You quickly discover that the information is useful and logically presented. I personally would have programmed the buttons a bit more consistently and would have used the up and down buttons with more functions (like setting carafe size) Self-clean mode could also be easier to set. With that said, the Breville's user interface is still 10 years ahead of everything else. When making coffee in the morning, I press one button and I am done. The Breville is even nice enough to tell how me how much time is remaining until my coffee is ready. BTW: The Breville clock does NOT flash 12:00 or show the wrong time when you don't set the clock after a power failure or if - like me- you rarely use the timed brewing functions. Very thoughtful. #2: No plastic smell. I didn't care about this until I recently bought (and then returned) a Mr. Coffee and a Cuisinart maker. Both had terrible plastic smells that you taste even after rinsing the machine several times with vinegar, soap and water. I understand that the smell and taste will diminish over time. I just don't know how safe it is to drink even small amounts of liquid that has been contaminated in this way. #3 Smart brewing. Being able to control the coffee to water ratio and then the steeping time for any size cup or carafe is absolutely brilliant. It allows me to make coffee the way I like it and I can consistently reproduce my results, time after time. I can also switch from single cup to 12 cups and get exactly what I expect. Outstanding! The features I like the least: #1 Height. At 16 3/4" tall, this coffee machine will have trouble fitting under some kitchen cabinets. #2 Grinder Noise (minor concern): Using my trusty dB A meter I measured it at 80 db. Not a big deal since it runs for only a few seconds. To put this in perspective, it is quieter than a Starbucks store grinder (92 dB) or even my Dyson handheld vacuum (88 db). Summary: The Breville is what I wanted in a drip coffee maker including many things I didn't know I wanted. ======= Two year Update ======= I have owned the Breville BDC600XL for almost two years now. Here is my review update: Things I still like: 1. Convenience. I add beans about twice a week and water daily. I add a new paper filter and rinse the holder. That's all I do to get my coffee every day. I recognize that there are potentially better methods but they require more work. I remain happy with the Breville's automatic results. 2. Coffee Temperature. Controversial for sure. I believe there are 2 camps: Coffee must be near boiling temperature or hot is good enough. I am in the latter camp because I will often let my coffee sit in the thermo carafe before getting to it. Fine for me. For those who need hotter, then a heated glass carafe is the only way to go. I believe Breville now makes such a model but I'm not interested. I am likely to leave my coffee sitting on most days. The thermo carafe remains my preferred solution. 3. Timed Operation. I never used the timer functions very much in the past. Too error prone and annoying. Setting up the Breville to run the next morning is fast and easy. I now find myself doing it on most weekdays. 4. Coffee Strength and Flavor: I am still very happy. I typically brew a six cup carafe at strength level of 3. I understand personal preferences apply here. I continue to look forward to my morning cup. Things that could be improved: 1. Fine versus coarse grind - I also own a Breville BCG800XL Smart Grinder. Its grind coarseness setting is much appreciated. 2. Software bugs - Mostly amusing but that's what we get with 'smarter' appliances. Bug #1 is: The Breville thinks 12 noon is 12 AM. In other words, the clock and wake up timer go 10 AM, 11 AM, 12 AM. Of course it should go 10 AM, 11 AM, 12 PM. Bug #2: After you add water, the Breville selects the number of cups you last used for timed operation UNLESS the number of cups of water in the reservoir is higher. If so, it now selects the higher number but does NOT update the display. You might now be getting 9 cups instead of the 6 cups shown. This can cause overflows if you fill the reservoir to full. 3. Customer Support - I have had no failures but when I informed Breville about the two software bugs described above, the support person on the phone basically said "That's life". I think they can do better than that. Final Summary: Still five stars and I would buy again. I have not found anything better that meets my desire for flexible control, decent automation and good taste. I suspect I will keep this coffeemaker until we get useful WiFi capable appliances in a few years.