This is my first machine of this type.  Now that I have learned how to use it, it makes as good a cup of espresso as I have ever had.  It is beautifully made and extremely stylish.  Having two pressure gauges is a luxury as well.

Water reservoir is much too small and the "empty" sensor trips much too soon.  I replaced the plastic anti-burn clips from the two wands with sleeves.  Apart from that, it has needed no modifications at all.

I think that Isomac is a much under-rated brand and that the Tea II (apart from its stupid name!) is a much under-rated machine.  Like all HX machines it DOES take a bit of learning and I had a Barista trainer come round to the house to teach me how to dial in my grinder and how to make a perfect Espresso with this machine.  It is also a VERY competent machine for warming and frothing milk although I mainly drink straight-up espressos.  All-in-all I cannot find any major fault with this delightful piece of eye-candy and I would buy one again without hesitation.  It is probably only two-thirds the price of the most popular, single group, heat-exchanger, E61 prosumer machines and deserves a much better exposure and reputation than it enjoys.  VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Buying from Caffe Italia was not a good experience.  Their website makes them seem a huge amount larger than they are!  I ordered at the end of July but they didn't tell me that they were shutting up shop until mid-August.  They never answer the phone or return emails.  I was considering court action when suddenly, with no warning a truck arrived containing a pallet with my machine loaded onto it.  I had a happy ending but I think that many have not and I would be worried about spending quite so much money with them again!