Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

UPDATE #2: Thinking that perhaps the Afresh cleaning tablets weren’t up to the job, I ran an entire gallon of vinegar through the machine. Between the actual vinegar, and then the tanks of clean water to get all the vinegar cleared out, this took the better part of the day. But it worked (sort of) - I had great coffee once again.... For two days. Then it started getting progressively more watery. I’m fairly certain that what’s happening is, like a clogged shower head, the individual jets of water are no longer spraying straight down - some are shooting off to the side, bypassing the coffee completely. (I think this also accounts for why it’s brewing a whole mug of coffee in under 30 seconds). My husband wants to take the whole thing apart and mess with it. I require all devices that I encounter daily, pre-caffeine, to just work, so I’ve already replaced this with a no-bells-and-whistles $30 standard drip coffeemaker, and husband can have the Braun as his overpriced little project. UPDATE: It’s been a year and a half since I purchased this coffee maker and I am not happy. It has become wildly inconsistent. Doing the exact same thing each morning gives me a different cup of coffee every day. Everything from the dreaded “lightly coffee flavored water”, to bitter and undrinkable, and everything in between. Using the “bold” setting has remedied the “coffee water” issue, but I still get anything from “ok” to “undrinkable” while making no changes to my process at all. With the caveat that I’m writing this after owning the machine for three days (I’ll edit later if necessary), I really like it. When my 9-yr-old Keurig died, I wanted to replace it with something more environmentally responsible. And while I’m the only one in my house who drinks coffee, when my parents visit, they want a whole carafe full. So this is the best of both worlds. I haven’t made a full carafe yet, but I’ve made single cups and have some thoughts.... The directions say to use three small scoops of coffee (a large and small scooper is provided) for a 12oz cup of coffee. No. No no no no no. That was the most bitter cup of coffee I’d ever tasted. I cut it back to 2, and with some creamer and a little sugar, it was fine. I cut it back to 1.5 scoops and didn’t need the sugar. A lot of reviews mention the height of the machine, and it is pretty big. It fits under my cabinets, but there’s not enough clearance to open the compartment where the filter goes and lift the filter out. To solve this problem, I put felt sliders over the rubber feet on the bottom of the machine. Now it’s simple to slide it out to deal with the filter, and then push it back. I really wish the little accents weren’t bright green. I can’t imagine that color really goes with anyone’s kitchen. Surely not mine. I’ve seen complaints about the operation of the machine but it’s pretty straight forward. The clock stays on all the time, so no problem there. You just choose your brew size, hit the “power” button which lights up all the other brew options, chose Light, Gold, or Bold, and you’re done. It’ll just start doing it’s thing automatically. After it’s done it “powers off” (the clock is still on, but accidentally bumping a button isn’t going to start a pot of coffee brewing) The water tank isn’t huge, but that was a selling point for me. Keurig’s water tank is gross! Who wants to brew coffee with three-day old water, in a tank covered in biofilm?! With this I just put in approximately as much as I need, and later dump out any extra and let the tank dry. I did see advertised that this machine has a “filter.” It’s just a tiny little thing to remove chlorine. Rather than remembering to replace that, I’ll just use filtered water to fill the reservoir. The gold-tone coffee mesh coffee filter is perfectly fine. I don’t know why you’d choose to use a paper filter in this machine, but the instructions say you can. One last thing to note - the first part of the serial number of this particular model is KF917. Most of the models on the market are KF907. The “1” indicates that this version has a separate dispenser for hot water. It’s right beside where the coffee comes out, so it’s hard to tell the difference between the two machines. Make sure you know what you’re buying. I’m writing this the weekend after thanksgiving when the 907s are significantly cheaper than the 917. But, that water dispenser was a major selling point for me. If it’s not for you, save yourself some cash and look at the other model. So to summarize, if you are looking specifically for a no-Kcup drop machine that will do multiple single-cups sizes, AND a carafe; and a machine that has a separate water dispenser; and you’re not bothered by the height and can play around with the amount of grounds required, I highly recommend this coffee maker.