Easy to use machine with consistent performance.  E61 group head at an entry level price.  Can steam and pull shots for hours without interruption if needed.  Adjustable.

It isn't portable!  The manual de instrucciones was a little strange to try to interpret but does have schematics and exploded part diagrams.  Initial factory group head pressure setting was too high.

Installation -
I purchased a Marcuzzi Office that is a rebranded Expobar Office that has a factory installed water inlet than can be connected to a water line.  This installation was a pain but was well worth the effort for subsequent ease of use.  I used John Guest fittings to tee into my cold water line under my sink and ran this to the inlet valve that is located under the drip tray.  John Guest fittings are plastic fittings that do not require any soldering.  They are hard to find but all the fittings were located at the best price at www.chriscoffee.com  I bought the 1) Max adapter w/ 1/4" JG,  2) 1/4" JG shutoff valve, 3) 15' of JG 1/4" tubing, and 4) 3/8" male pipe to a 1/4" JG adapter, the mating adapter on the Office is close to mating to a US 3/8" pipe thread but I believe it had metric thread pitch, fortunately the JG adapter from #4 is plastic so you can put some pipe tape on it and tighten it down and it seals up great.  I initially tried copper and it simply wouldn't fit.  The Max adapter item #1 will fit right onto the feed line from your sink.  Unscrew the existing line, bend it a little to adjust for the new fitting and simply screw the fitting and existing compression fitting back onto this adapter.  This is nice because if you want to remove it later, just unscrew it and put the cold water supply back on the existing fitting.  The return line from the drip tray was teed into the dishwasher's return line that is fed into the garbage disposal, this drain adapter (DLA-D) was found at www.freshwatersystems.com  I purchased an Intermatic www.intermatic.com programmable timer (SS7C) at the local home improvement store.  Power requirements for the Office are listed at 975Watts @ 110 V.  This is about ~9 Amps resistive at 110 V so the 15 Amp timer has plenty of current capability.  I wired it permanently to my electrical system and mounted the timer in a junction box under my sink.  Intermatic also sells these 15 Amp units that can be plugged into outlets so you don't have to do the hardwiring.  Check your local electrical code.  I had to drill a hole in counter top of our kitchen island for the installation, my wife was very upset about this but has adjusted after 6 months of awesome espresso.  I guess we can't move.

Adjustments -
During the first few weeks of operation, I thought I'd made a big mistake because shots were bitter and inconsistent.  I've had great espresso before and assumed that this would instantly happen with a better machine and good beans but I was dead wrong.  After many failed experiments with adjusting the grind and tamp pressure I researched HX machines and decided to verify the temperature and pressure in the group head.  I purchased a PF pressure gauge and discovered that the factory setting was 12.5 bars, which according to many, was to high.  After more research on adjusting the pressure on the Office, it was turned down to 8.5 bars by adjusting the expansion/overpressure valve following Murray Holland's advice in this forum.  I've been making great shots ever since.  At this pressure setting, grind and tamp pressure makes a difference and pulling a great shot isn't so difficult.

Ease of Use -
The programmable timer turns the unit on in the morning, I never have to mess with the plastic reservoir or emptying the drip tray because of the installation.  I only make double shots so we programmed one of the four buttons and that is the only one we use.  My wife uses the steam wand and hasn't had any problems with the steaming operation.  At parties we can make shot after shot and steam do the delight of our friends.

I researched this unit and decided to buy in the 11/04 time frame.  The price was really reasonable and the reviews were excellent, unfortunately the day I called up to purchase, the price increased $400 due to euro/dollar exchange.  My $795.00 machine suddenly was a lot more expensive. Fortunately, I found the Marcuzzi Office elsewhere and this unit had the factory installed water inlet at this same price level.  I believe prices have adjusted up and down on these units from these vendors.  I called ifyoulovecoffee's tech support a few times and was very pleased with support, I think the guy that was answering the phone was also doing professional installs which was very helpful for my installation questions.