Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Fairly mediocre product. I have read through lots of reviews on Amazon before buying this product. The praises for this product range from "sturdy" to "an heirloom", "great quality" etc. After receicing this grinder and trying it out for 20 days, I can only assume that the people who wrote these reviews have either no idea of engineering and material quality or the reviews were sponsored. This product is a very nice looking mediocre grinder that could have been "engineered" by a first semester student. It is a very simple piece of aluminum with an even simpler grinder. The quality of this grinder would warrant a price of about $50-75 at the top end. The burr grinder in the center is as simple as it gets (which is not ncessarily bad). To adjust there is a simple metal wheel on the bottom with which you adjust the coarseness of the grind. The numbers are pointless, because you can freely spin the wheel in any direction.The so called "steplesss adjustment " is just removing a washer, so the plate doesn't ratchet anymore. Some "engineering". If you don't mess with the dial, you will produce pretty constant grind results that are by all means satisfactory. The minute you change that, you will a) never find your setting again because the numbers are useless and b) will have to go through heaps of coffee to dial things in again. The cup to catch the beans is a joke. Its made of cheap plastic and is so static that the coffee clings to it. It is also too short, because the grinder will evenly distribute 30-40% of your coffee across the base and your counter but not in the cup. Can you remedy this? Sure, like others have said - just use a different cup that is higher and catches the coffee to minimize spill. Cleaning? In their "engineering" ingenuity, the company put an adhesive glue strip under the grinder. Good idea, when you are grinding, because there is minimal movement. Bad idea the first time you have to pry this from your countertop to clean the mess the grinder made all over. Now the grind sticks to the glue. The only way to clean this thing is in the sink, but don't touch the dial, otherwise - well - see above. Do this 20 times and the glue strip will become a biotope of kitchen scraps glued to it So it will have to be removed from the bottom of the unit after which the grinder will scratch your countertop so you'll have to replace it with a rubber strip. The handle is very mediocre quality and is starting to come unbalanced after 20 days of light usage. If this continues, I expect the cheap bearing in the top to wear out, which will likely angle the - cheap- polycarbonate wheels in the top - which will likely break them. Game over. If one of those teeth crack you're done. Adios $200. So in summary - does this grinder work? Yes for sure. Its like a Range Rover, looks really great, but if you try to use it you'll spend most of your time at the shop. Can you make it work? Sure - you just have to avoid touching the dial, buy a vaccum cleaner to suck up 40% of your expensive espresso ground that flies all over the kitchen. Can you fix that? Sure, just change the cup. Can you work around the glue strip? Sure just don't move or clean the unit. If you do, just replace the glue strip. How long will it last? Well unitl the wheels crack or the $0.20c plate on the bottom gives in. can you deal with that? Sure, just hope it all goes well. The question is though - can I deal with this for $50? Yes, its an acceptable tradeoff. At $200? No way. $35 production cost in China, landed cost in US warehouse $42. Sales Price $199= $157 gross profit per unit. I am all for making money with a great idea. An this is indeed a great concept. Unfortunately it was executed with poor or no understanding of engineering, material and quality control. If you make a $200 product, it needs to work.