larsh Senior Member Joined: 24 Jun 2002 Posts: 33 Location: Malmo (Sweden) Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Sat Jun 29, 2002, 3:17am Subject: Recommended European dealers?
I live in Sweden and for convenience and tax reasons would prefer to buy my next machine from a country in "the neighbourhood", i.e. the Eropean Union. Anyone with a good experience from online espresso equipment shops in Europe please report!
alfaekko Senior Member Joined: 28 Dec 2001 Posts: 19 Location: Roskilde Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Giotto Premium Gaggia Paros Grinder: Mazzer Mini Vac Pot: old unknown, Bodum Santos Drip: no, but several french press Roaster: Hearthware iRoast
larsh Senior Member Joined: 24 Jun 2002 Posts: 33 Location: Malmo (Sweden) Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Sat Jul 27, 2002, 2:29pm Subject: Re: Recommended European dealers?
Thanks a lot guys! I checked all three sites, and they seem pretty good. Fairly competetively priced machines as well. "Good and friendly service" sounds good too! As for extras, I particularly liked Coffea.dk's succinct and useful information on roasting.
The selection of all three stores seems a bit Gaggia/Rancilio-oriented, with a Nouva Simonelli Oscar and some other stuff thrown in here and there for good measure. I'm not sure what I'm buying yet, but at this stage it looks like the Oscar or something even better, so Espressokaffe.dk should start to look really interesting once I give myself the all-systems "go and buy it" signal.
In the meantime, I found a couple of German stores that offer slightly better prices through their web sites, but I have no experience buying from any of these. They are Espresso Factory and Italien Online-Shop.
Finally, a question: I noticed that temperato.no, the Norwegian site, sells an IXO machine (the model is called E2K Junior). It looks similar to the ECM Giotto. Is it? Actually, there's no mention of IXO on CG whatsoever, or is there? Are they just rebranded ECM's? While I'm at it, I never did figure out the difference between Isomac and ECM. Anyone in the know?
MarkPrince Moderator Joined: 19 Dec 2001 Posts: 5,462 Location: Vancouver, BC Expertise: Professional
Espresso: KvdW Speedster Grinder: Compak K10 WBC Vac Pot: A bit too many Drip: Clive Coffee Drip Stand Roaster: Hario Glass Retro Roaster
Posted Mon Aug 5, 2002, 10:50pm Subject: Re: Recommended European dealers?
I will have to ask people to refrain from advertising their own businesses in these forums, especially without identifying their direct ties. I've had to do the first ever deletion of a post because of this.
jim_schulman Senior Member Joined: 19 Dec 2001 Posts: 3,772 Location: Chicago Expertise: I live coffee
Posted Mon Aug 5, 2002, 11:11pm Subject: Re: Recommended European dealers?
larsh Said:
... Finally, a question: I noticed that temperato.no, the Norwegian site, sells an IXO machine (the model is called E2K Junior). It looks similar to the ECM Giotto. Is it? Actually, there's no mention of IXO on CG whatsoever, or is there? Are they just rebranded ECM's? While I'm at it, I never did figure out the difference between Isomac and ECM. Anyone in the know?
The machine looks exactly like the one badged as the "Euro 2000 Junior" sold by a few stores in the U.S. Eddie Torres has put up comments and a series of stunningly good pictures of the machine (his wife, a professional photographer took them) at his website.
larsh Senior Member Joined: 24 Jun 2002 Posts: 33 Location: Malmo (Sweden) Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Tue Aug 6, 2002, 1:00am Subject: Re: Recommended European dealers?
another_jim Said:
The machine looks exactly like the one badged as the "Euro 2000 Junior" sold by a few stores in the U.S. Eddie Torres has put up comments and a series of stunningly good pictures of the machine (his wife, a professional photographer took them) at his website.
Thanks Jim. Yes, great pictures and information on Eddie Torres's website. It's definitely the same machine as the IXO. Interesting. (btw, I found some pictures of the IXO at a Norwegian fansite at www.kaffe.tk).
One clarification though: I use the word "rebranded" a bit carelessly. In my own definition of the word I include machines that look as they have just been given a new housing, but retained the same inner workings.
I guess this is partly because I don't know the proper term for this phenomenon (to call it reengineered would in most cases not be correct I think), partly because I have somewhat of an attitude problem with these machines. I guess it's often a win-win solution for the original manufacturer and the rebranding company, because the total number of units sold increases under multiple brands, but I seem to prefer original designs. The exception is when there have been substantial improvements in the construction of the machine, as is probably the case sometimes.
jim_schulman Senior Member Joined: 19 Dec 2001 Posts: 3,772 Location: Chicago Expertise: I live coffee
Posted Tue Aug 6, 2002, 12:17pm Subject: Re: Recommended European dealers?
larsh Said:
Thanks Jim. Yes, great pictures and information on Eddie Torres's website. It's definitely the same machine as the IXO. Interesting. (btw, I found some pictures of the IXO at a Norwegian fansite at www.kaffe.tk).
Nice to see the new generation of coffee drinkers.
One clarification though: I use the word "rebranded" a bit carelessly. In my own definition of the word I include machines that look as they have just been given a new housing, but retained the same inner workings.
Recased?
The Ixo & Isomac Millenium are recased Giottos. The Isomac Tea gets an extra pump manometer but is otherwise identical inside. But there are slight wiring and finishing differences, so my guess is that each company is working with the same parts suppliers.
I guess this is partly because I don't know the proper term for this phenomenon (to call it reengineered would in most cases not be correct I think), partly because I have somewhat of an attitude problem with these machines. I guess it's often a win-win solution for the original manufacturer and the rebranding company, because the total number of units sold increases under multiple brands, but I seem to prefer original designs. The exception is when there have been substantial improvements in the construction of the machine, as is probably the case sometimes.
athelas Senior Member Joined: 26 Aug 2002 Posts: 1 Location: Stuttgart, Germany Expertise: Intermediate
Posted Mon Aug 26, 2002, 1:53pm Subject: Re: Recommended European dealers?
Hi Larsh,
I can recommend you the German dealer www.smilingdolphin.de. (Not too international, click on 'Kaufen' and then on the ebay logo:-)
They seem to specialize in coffeemaking equipment for professional and private use and sell their products via ebay. They offer various brands of coffee and Saeco and Rancilio machines as well as accessories.
My affiliation to them is that they sold me a factory new Rancilio Silvia for 20 % off the rather high Germn suggested price (EUR 450 instead of 560) and did a good job delivering it to me :-)
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