Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Normally, Cuisinart is synonymous with quality. And I love my Cuisinart food processor. Love the small food processor, too. But their grind-and-brew coffee makers are poorly-made plastic junk. I had the original one...everything with two plastic connectors now has only one, and I was always careful with it...I now have to balance the lid on the carafe, have to hold the top lid closed with clamps I've attached or the thing won't brew... So when I saw the new model, I thought, "Great! They must have fixed it!" Just got it yesterday, and I'm already disappointed. The first thing you'll notice is that the nice shiny metal is only real on the carafe. The rest is just a cheap faceplate over flimsy plastic on weak hinges and thin components. I can almost feel it wanting to break every time I fill it. The first model had to be completely dried out after every use because the steam backs up through the grinding components, leaving a trail of coffee-bean-coagulated-sweat all through the device. I'd hoped they'd have put some sort of steam backflow prevention mechanism in the new model...they did not. Still have to dry out the whole works after every use. Even the compartment where only dry beans were placed. With the thermal carafe version, the resting plate at the bottom does not heat, it only holds the carafe. I assume the glass version does act as a heating plate...So this morning, when I came to get my coffee, I thought perhaps I'd set the timer wrong. I didn't see the little light glowing to tell me that the thermal plate was working. I had done it right, however; it just relies on the insulating properties of the thermal carafe to keep the coffee warm. Truth be told, I prefer that to burnt coffee...but that's the only good part of this device. I think, for my next grind-and-brew, I'll shell out the extra bucks for the Capresso.