Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I don't drink coffee so it took me about 6 weeks to research every automatic coffee maker out there. I bought this as an anniversary gift and so I had to learn a lot about coffee quickly. I am surprised at how complex the decision was and how many different options are out there. I wanted something that was sturdy, reliable, had a good reputation, and was easy to clean and maintain. Ideally I wanted one that I could hook to the kitchen water supply like the refrigerator has, but that proved to be a very expensive option so I gave it up. I grew up with my mom making Folgers in a big glass pot that boiled water up a stem that dripped down through grounds. I had no idea what I was getting into when starting this quest. From the start I knew that what I didn't want want was to be locked into some DRM scheme like the Kureg at the office does. I hate that I have to buy coffee from one supplier for the office machine. So, I eliminated all of the options that required a branded pod of coffee. I read tons of reviews on every brand that I could find. There are some really passonate coffee drinkers out there. Wow. I narrowed it down to machines that were in my price range first (sub $1000), then machines that could grind the coffee or take pre-ground coffee, had a large enough reservoir for at least 4 cups, and could tolerate American style mugs (4 to 5 inches tall). That got me down to about 8 machines. From there I eliminated any that had predominantly bad reviews. That got me down to 5. Then I read the 2, 3, and 4 star reviews (eliminating the exceptions). I created a little spreadsheet of features/functions and positive things identified in reviews and negative things identified in reviews. And, I selected the Delonghi. Why... * Reviews consistently said that the build quality was solid * Every other machine had comments about difficulty to clean the frother, the catch pan, the grounds pan, or the water reservoir * The grinding mechanism on this machine is more robust that most and not prone to gumming up on "oily" coffee beans * The size is right to fit under a standard American cabinet * The silver matched the rest of the kitchen * Cup height tolerance eliminated a few * Reviews indicated that the self cleaning mechanism was simple and reliable * The temperature of the heated water was higher than all of the other models that made it to my final selection There were a few other reasons but those were the big ones. I compromised on a few things: * I would have liked to have been able to set the type of brew and strength in profiles so that multiple people could use the machine by just selecting their profile and not having to adjust the buttons or the strength for each cup that was different * I would have liked to have had more control on the water temperature With all of that said, after owning this machine for 4 months now, I can say it was one of my better choices for buying something that I had no personal experience with and will never use. The only true negative of the machine is that you have to put a tall cup under the outputs when you turn it on and after you brew the coffee. When it does its self clean cycle, it doesn't use much water but even with the nozzles at the lowest position it splashes all over the counter. The water doesn't go into those two little holes in the catch pan. For our house that is remedied by putting a tall glass under the nozzles for the cleaning cycle. The recipient of the gift has been exceptionally happy with it.