A great, simple drip coffee maker with a nice style and a good SS carafe -as long as you're willing to put up with some minor failings.
Positive Product Points
The machine is very handsome and easy to use -I like NOT having a clock on every appliance in the kitchen! I especially like the large, chunky on/off switch. The carafe itself is quite handsome and hefty -much more so than my capresso carafe and it kept the coffee hot longer than my capresso does. I like that it comes with a water filter and a relatively decent permanent gold filter-little extras that add value in my opinion. The other good thing about this machine is that the drip stop is a much better design than on the capresso -the carafe pushes on a small bar that allows the coffee to flow down, rather than a spring-loaded button at the base of the coffee filter.
Negative Product Points
I guess whoever designed this machine decided it should be to the right of your sink because the the water level gauge is on the left of the machine and it's positioned in such a way that you have to literally move the machine around a bit to see the watter level because there's no handy little red floater which the capresso does have. Also, it's fairly easy to accidentally knock the ON button off, and to punch the filter open button -I did that once while coffee was brewing.
Detailed Commentary
I found the machine very easy to use, apart from having to crane my neck to check the water level. It brews fast, hot coffee into a decent carafe that keeps the coffee hot for hours. I did find that I wanted to angle the machine on my counter because of the water level placement, but if you do so, you need to be sure that the carafe is positioned so that the pour spout engages the drip-stop -I put it in at an angle, to correct for the angle of the machine, and the radius of the pour spout decreases as it goes around, which did not fully engage the drip-stop. Fortunately I noticed that I wasn't hearing that lovely 'tinkle' sound of coffee dripping, so I rotated the carafe and the coffee began to flow into it. Minor detail, but beware. Also, I found it annoying that I have to keep some extra plastic 'place-holder' should I decide not to replace my brita water filter that sits at the bottom of the reservoir. I guess if you don't put the place-holder in, you have to adjust for the added room for water in the tank....again minor, but.
Buying Experience
I love ebay -I paid $50, s/h included.
Three Month Followup
The machine is still working just fine. After realizing that not properly aligning the spout of the pot with the drip stop will cause the drip stop to activate and prevent the coffee from dripping into the carafe, I haven't made that mistake again. It's simple, easy to use, keeps coffee hot for a relatively long time, and has a water filter in the tank -that's all I ask of a drip coffee maker!
