Pretty looking, but if you want a Rocket, go with either a rotary pump Giotto or save up and go for an r58.
Positive Product Points
• Very Good Steaming Power • Good Looking Machine
Negative Product Points
• Small Drip Tray • Plastic cup warming rack • Vib pump was loud and sometimes had trouble at max power • Long warmup time / temperatures prone to stalling out
Detailed Commentary
I was hoping to love this machine and thought it might be my last for quite some time. I was unprepared for the amount of effort that would be required to get temperature stability with an HX machine. I purchased Eric's thermometer as a means to get better control of the temperatures, but for unknown reasons I kept getting thermosyphon stalls, which would mean I would have to do a long flush and then wait all over again for the machine to warm up. This was very frustrating and although I tried to fix this in many ways including adjusting the pressure stat way up, I was unsuccessful. Also, by trying to increase the pressure stat, it would cause the machine to quickly rise in temperature after you finally achieved temperature stability and pulled a shot. Gauging the amount of cooling flush time needed to get the correct temperature in your shot was way to hard and seemed to vary shot to shot. It could be that I got a 'lemon' but I will never know.
Buying Experience
I purchased from SCG because I was really happy with the videos that Kat and Gail produce, and they had a good price with a nice set of accessories that came with it (including a bottomless PF). They shipped it fine and it was received fine, which seems like good luck considering other reports of Rockets having difficulty in normal shipping. HOWEVER, I was very unhappy with their customer service. Every time I called them for technical help, it was like I was talking with someone who knew nothing about espresso machines. They told me, for example, that you could not pull a shot and steam at the same time with this machine, when clearly you could. They were not helpful in trying to fix my stalling issues and when I wanted to order an internal part for the machine to try and fix it myself, they said they do not sell parts to these machines. I could send it in for repair, but that is expensive, takes a long time, and might not even lead to a fix. I really like Kat and Gail's videos, but other than that, I would only buy accessories from SCG in the future, not a machine, especially if you don't live near them.
