Pretty good pot of coffee on a timer! Makes a commuter's morning easier.
Positive Product Points
It makes a pretty good pot of drip coffee on a timer, with a thermostat to keep it warm/hot but not burn it. It also has a nice auto-shutoff feature. It has a built in grinder, so your beans can be freshly ground every morning.
Negative Product Points
The grinder and basket must be thoroughly cleaned and *dry* before every use. You can't just throw together a pot of coffee - you need to plan a little. Some of the plastic parts are a little more fragile.
Detailed Commentary
This is a nice drip coffee pot with a timer and a grinder, so you can have a pot of freshly ground and brewed coffee when you wake up in the morning. Quite a nice time saver for the early morning commuter.
The operation is quite simple, put in beans, water and filter, set the timer and away it goes! If you miss a step (like the filter) you get a messy overflow, but, hey, that's what you get when you don't follow directions.
The machine has a thermostat (the temperature is user controlled) on the heat plate, so as to not burn the coffee while it sits there. There is also an auto-shutoff feature, so it will keep your coffee warm for up to four hours (again, the timing is user controlled).
It does have a blade grinder, but for a cup of drip coffe, does it really make a difference?
When you are standing next to the coffee maker, while it is grinding, it seems loud, but it has never woken my children or my wife when it goes off at 4:45 AM - only quite pleased my wife as she later comes down the stairs to a kitchen smelling of freshly brewed coffee.
Some of the parts are fragile. We did break a part of the basket, which Cuisinart promptly replaced (see Buying Experience) and the small plastic clips which hold the lid on the carafe broke, but its not a big deal as my Capresso C1000 has almost supplanted drip coffee for espresso in my house.
I really like this machine, primarily because of the grinder and the timer. As long as I'd set it up in the evening, there was coffee waiting for me in the morning!
Buying Experience
I got this as a gift. However, Cuisinart quickly sent us a replacement basket when the stopper (so you can pour coffee while brewing) broke. When they sent us the wrong color, they quickly sent a replacement in the correct color.
