Makes darn good expresso, if if you are a novice Barista. Easy to maintain. Large water well. Good pressure. Looks great.

Noisy pump. Priming blows [on this and all model requiring it]. Smallish drip pan.

First of all, if you are considering upgrading from a steam unit to a pump unit, stop considering and RUN [don't walk] to the nearest Starbuck's and get this machine. Watch the video that is included. Then make your fist REAL shot of expresso at home. After you recover from the initial shock of the difference and how close you were to replicating the Starbuck's expresso at the store, you can simply enjoy a smart purchase. Use a burr grinder and fresh roasted beans and you will be in expresso Utopia. Coffee snobs can go ahead and laugh while they pump expresso from their mega$$$ machines. The difference is marginal to most. It is the same as wine snobery... what most of these people fail to realize is that most humans do not have the same, exacting sense of taste. What I am saying is this... all of you snobs need to lighten up and all of the rest of us need to use our own judgement to determine what is best for real people with real budgets and real taste buds!!! If you buy this machine and tinker with it for a week and decide that it stinks, take it back into the nearest Starbuck's and they will apologize for your bad experience and refund your $$$. You can't do that as easily with a mega$$$ unit you bought via mail-order. Oh, and I used the $800 i didn't spend on a whiz-bang unit to go to Italy last year and drink endless amounts of 'real' coffee!  Now who is the smart one? ;-)~

None better than Starbuck's.