You'll never need to visit a Starbucks again with this unit.
Positive Product Points
Excellent quality for the price. Produces an excellent espresso with a rich crema. Good at producing froth for lattes.
Negative Product Points
Unit tends to leak a minor amount of steam/water when not in use. Required experimenting to figure out how to position rapidsteam device for maximum froth.
Detailed Commentary
I'll start by saying that I think this device brews the best espresso of all the machines that I've owned. It is clearly a step up from the low end steam and pump units that I've wasted my time on in the past. I don't believe I've made a bad espresso or latte since purchasing the maker.
However, good taste has not come without a price. Since buying the Classico, I have had it in for service two times. The first time I took it in, the steam arm was leaking a small amount of water when it was not in use. After a couple of days in the shop, the problem was fixed and I continued brewing excellent espressos. The second time I took it in for repairs, the unit had stopped pumping well. This time it took the dealership two weeks to fix the problem which entailed a complete replacement of the pump. When I took it home, it worked superbly. It's remained this way for months, but recently I've noticed that the steamer arm is leaking a small amount of water/steam again, which will probably mean another trip to the dealership sometime in the future when I feel energetic!
The only other point I think worth making is that you need to play with the rapidsteam device occassionally to ensure that the frothing action works. Five minutes getting to know the mechanics of the device will save you the trouble of producing an occassional bad froth.
All said I still find this espresso machine much better than anything that I have bought in the past. I would recommend it to anyone out in the market looking for a mid-priced espresso unit.
Buying Experience
I bought the unit from the Saeco dealership in Toronto. They were pleasant enough to buy from but their handling of service issues could use improvement. Given the problems that I've had with the unit, I am happy in this case with having bought from a local dealership rather than an Internet based one.
