Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

My 17 year old Cuisinart DCC-1200 coffee maker finally started leaking. Seventeen years old and, until last week, it never failed me. That's a pretty good record, so I figured I'd replace it with the same one. But since Wife makes the coffee, I let her choose and she opted for this DCC-3200P1. Because we were on the fence, and the 1200 was so great for me, I added some comparison information to help others who might be on the same fence. Packaging - This probably could have been air-dropped from a drone and survived the fall. Very well packaged. It looks great. Kind of retro with the stainless steel finish, but modern with the blue LED clock and and buttons. This is one reason Wife chose this model - the blue LED is soo much easier to see. The 1200 has no back-light, and is nearly impossible to see in all but the best lighting. This is real stainless steel, not painted metal like the 'dark stainless' appliances, so it should look great forever. This stainless is brushed sideways instead of up and down like the 1200. Exact same height, same width, and same height carafe, although this carafe is fatter. The electrical cord is a few inches shorter than the old model at 27", and sits about a half inch closer to the wall on the counter, sticking out 8.75". The water level window on the right side is nifty, although it doesn't really match up perfectly with the measurements on the carafe. 14 cups in the carafe shows 13 on the side window of the coffee maker. No big deal, especially if you use the carafe to measure your water. The lid on top opens 100 degrees on this one (vs 112 degrees on the old 1200), which means if it's against a wall it will open 1.5" beyond the back of the maker (vs 3" on the 1200). It would seem that this would make it harder to fill the 3200, but Wife says it's just as easy. A big change is that the 'shower' of hot water that pumps up and drips into the coffee filter is greatly increased. Wile the old 'shower' was 8 holes in a very concentrated area, this one has 33 holes spread out over the entire coffee filtering area. I imagine this equates to wringing more flavor out of the coffee grounds, although I'm no coffee brewing expert. Like other Cuisinart models, this uses a permanent filter, but a paper filter can be used if desired. I've experimented with both ways, and I find that I prefer the bolder taste of using the gold mesh permanent filter. Your mileage may vary. I also find that this type of coffee maker filter is vastly superior to flat-bottom filter types, and that I have to use less coffee to achieve the same strength of flavor. This maker uses the same tiny water filters their other models use. They do seem to work very well, provided you're diligent in changing them. I had forgotten about changing it for several months in the 1200, and when I finally did remember to change it, I extracted it to find that it had a slimy mold growing on it. Yeah, gross. I guess that's to be expected when it's just sitting wet for months, but that was the end of that. I pulled out the entire filter contraption and never used it again. I won't be using it in this one, either. (We use our fridge's filtered water anyway, so unnecessary.) I live in South FL, and the power goes out for a second or two literally once a week in the summer. This coffee maker has "60 second reset" that they say allows it to retain your programmed settings for one minute after a power failure. I tested that minute on mine by unplugging it for 3 full minutes, and when I plugged it in, it still had the proper clock settings. Happy days. Resetting the old 1200 was a twice a week occurrence, so Wife's glad that's no longer necessary. She ran two full pots of clean water through the new maker to clean out that 'new coffee maker smell', and then made a pot of coffee. I am very pleased to report that the coffee is great, and as good as the old one. Pros - Very easy to see blue LED readout. Easy to program. If the power goes out, it remembers your programming. Self cleaning mode. 3 year warranty (although my last one survived 17 years!) Looks great on your counter. Makes perfect coffee. Cons - Kinda pricey, but generally you get what you pay for. If you use the water filters, you must keep up with replacement. *** It takes me a lot of time to write my reviews, so if you found this helpful in any way, please let me know by clicking the button.***