Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

[This review applies to the Magnifica 3200, this is the same as the 3300 with slight cosmetic differences.] I bought this machine in 2006 after an almost-endless trawl through the internet reading owners' reviews - after all, we are talking about the search for the perfect espresso here! The coffee quality is indeed great. The only misgivings I would have about using it are that the knobs have no user markings, which means that if there are several people in the house using the machine, it is impossible to select the previously-selected individual settings. Also, the time before the machine performs an auto-switchoff is fixed at about three hours. I couldn't find the power comsumption in the user manual when in "idle" mode, but I think it must be substantial since it keeps the boiler/cup-preheater hot during this time. Not that the preheater is any use - I warm my cups by first wetting them and then putting them in the microwave for 30 seconds. More seriously, I have had the machine for three years and in this time it has broken down four times - the first time after six weeks, the second time after about 18 months, the third time after about 30 months, and again most recently last week. The first two times, the machine was fixed under guarantee, without any quibbles. I think the problem is that the environment these machines have to work under is probably the most severe to be found in the home: high-pressure boiling water, grinding, and the transport of the coffee grains within the machine. Maybe the build quality of the cheaper machines is such that they cannot cope? While waiting this last time round for it to be picked up and repaired, I decided to open it up to check its build quality (I'm an engineer). De Longhi has used thin plastic wherever possible. The coffee transfer path is not well isolated from the rest of the machine - as a result coffee powder had dropped into the moving motorised assembly at the back of the machine (I think this was the reason why the machine ultimately had failed). Others here have commented on the machine's coffee-making ability. I agree, it makes great coffee. It's a pity that, in my experience at least, it was let down by poor engineering.