Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I've been the owner of this grinder since February 20, 2005. In that time span, I would guess that the beans have gotten "stuck" (whereby the burrs spin freely without doing anything) maybe 5 times TOTAL. I make coffee about 3 or 4 times a week. So that's somewhere between 30 and 45 operations, and it's goofed up 5 of those times. NOT ONCE have I had to disassemble anything. You just hit the grind button again to stop it, jostle it GENTLY back and forth, and hit the grind button again. Of course, you lose the timed grind that is supposed to happen, but I view it as a VERY MINOR inconvenience to have to stand there and manually turn it off when it's done grinding. As for the complaints of size, I think we've pretty much come to a consensus among the reviewers that it's NOT freakishly huge, or whatever that one reviewer said. It's modestly sized, and certainly less blockish and imposing than, say, the Rancilio Rocky, for which you'll pay 5-10 times as much. The noise is not an issue for me, because it's no noisier than the old blade grinder I had. You've got to look at these kinds of issues like you would evaluate a car. Yes, a Rolls Royce is going to have less road noise than a subcompact Toyota, but the Toyota isn't going to set you back $50,000, and it's going to use less gas, AND it's going to get you there in just as much time. So there might be some noise (particularly when the beans get lodged funny), but it's no worse than the KitchenAid blade grinder that will wake up not only your partner, but also your dog and the local fire department. Lastly, the grind itself. I will agree with the complaints that have been lodged previously. First, the grind is generally too fine for the setting. I haven't tried french press yet, but I get the suspicion that it'll be too fine even on the coarsest setting. Additionally, there's a little bit of overground powder that comes through with every grind. This shows up as a very thin layer of sludge at the bottom of a brewed pot. And finally, the cup dial does not accurately reflect everything I've learned and been taught about how much bean goes into one cup of coffee. It does grind too long for the cup setting. But you learn this quickly, and it's a pretty easy fix. If you're making 4 cups, set the dial to JUST above 3 cups. Voila. And if you're making fewer than 3 cups of coffee, you should find a roommate. There's no good way to make coffee in that small an amount. My final thought on this grinder is that people who give it one star are being way too hard on it. I'd honestly give it 3 and a half, but I'll go with 4 just to boost its self-esteem a bit. You're paying $50 people. It's not a Rancilio. It's not a Mazzer, it's not an Isomac, it's not even a Starbucks Barista. But it's pretty good, and affordably priced, and it's a hell of a lot better than a blade grinder. For those of you who might WANT to spend $350-500 on a burr grinder, but know you reasonably SHOULDN'T, this is the grinder for you. Just learn to live with its quirks, and you have a fantastic bargain on your countertop. **UPDATE** French press works great. My favorite use for this setting: I grind up a baggie-full before I go camping, and with my Lexan French press, I get a spectacular cup of coffee, which makes my fellow campers extremely jealous.