Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

If you are considering getting this machine... read on so you have a sense of what to expect. If you have already, I sincerely hope your experience is better than ours. We have had this machine for about a year and a half. About 4 months ago, the grinder stopped working. It took me 40 min to get a hold of some one @ DeLonghi to get a repair (neve rmind online, where they promise a reply within 2 business days and I did not get any reply for over a month!). They did honor the 2 year warranty and repaired it at no charge... except that it took weeks to even get the box/paper work to send it to them and a couple of weeks to get it back (the latter, honestly, I was ok with). We have had it back now for about a month... and this morning it stopped working... again! Now the computer thinks the water tank is empty (it is not, and we have inserted/re-inserted the tank several times), and wants to run the set up program (which we have run 4-5 times already)... to no avail! I am incredibly frustrated! This was not a cheap item. This was $800 and I would have expected better quality and better customer service. I am at a loss. I was hoping for a better experience. Now, I am back to my trusty coffee pot on the stove... until I figure something out. Still here are some comments I have for you to consider about the machine itself. What I love... It is relatively easy to set up and use... almost foolproof! It heats up quickly It is quieter than others Lots of features to make different drinks easily Foams milk like a dream The tamping feature is really cool! It helps control the mess and keep things tidy! But...There are several design “flaws” you should be aware of... It is a tall machine... we have it under the upper cabinets and to get it in and out we have to take off the coffee bean hopper lid I absolutely dislike the fact you cannot take the hopper off when it is full of beans. So, you are “stuck” with whatever beans you put in. Other machines I have had lock the beans in and you can remove the hopper and the beans if you desire to change the coffee... which we do! It has only 6 grinder settings... we have it set one notch above the finest grind setting and we still are not getting the intensity of flavor we were used to get with other machines. I wish there were more grind settings. I hope this helps you make a more informed decision.