Not professional, but close enough and easy to operate
Positive Product Points
-small footprint -looks nice -pretty easy to operate -easy to clean -decent espresso and milk -great for a beginner
Negative Product Points
-the manual needs to be supplemented by coffeegeek info, especially for milk frothing -leaky brewing -the price was more than I anticipated
Detailed Commentary
My experience with the Classico RS has been much better than with the Vienna Delux. It fits into the kitchen easily and is much simpler. I haven't yet been able to produce cafe-level drinks, but improvement has been steady.
My main beef is that the manual is not as detailed as I'd like it. I bought a refurb that didn't come with a scooper, so I've been guessing my way through amounts (a heaped tablespoon seems to equal a scoop), since the manual doesn't say anything about how big the scooper is. In addition to that, the right grind has been difficult to pin down, especially since a half pound lasts me nearly two weeks, not giving me much latitude for direct comparison. Finally, there are no tips on how to improve shots; the message is basically "the pressurized portafiller will do it all for you!" I like the portafiller, but it definitely needs a little help to get the shots done well.
I actually don't have a problem with the frothing wand itself. READ COFFEEGEEK'S FOAMING GUIDE. After 20 minutes of reading, most my confusion on how to produce decent foam was cleared up. Following that quick study, I produced the beginnings of microfoam on my first try.
The only think that I haven't even begun to figure out is why the portafiller leaks. It usually isn't too much of a problem, but it happens every time (to varying degrees) and can get quite annoying.
Buying Experience
I bought the refurb from wholelattelove via eBay because the local coffee repair shop said that it was the most reputable and consistent online seller. They shipped it out three business days after I payed (pissed me off... I was pretty impatient), but other than that there were no problems. However, I wasn't expecting to pay $277 for a "budget" machine that wasn't even new.
