still a good value for the money I paid, and the Cuisinart Brew Central is always one of the higher-rated machines for the general market, so this "relative" is also pretty good, but I wish it had lasted longer.
Positive Product Points
consistently good, but not great, drip coffee easy to maintain attractive appearance
Negative Product Points
Machine "died" in less than two years most "go" mugs will not fit under dispensing head coffee doesn't stay as hot or fresh as other thermal carafe units I've had.
Detailed Commentary
consistently good, but not great, drip coffee: out of the ten or so auto-drip machines I've used, I'd say this was the second best in taste. I like the look of the machine, and it is fairly easy to maintain. The unique feature is that what is essentially a thermal carafe (which does not keep the coffee as hot as the Mr.Coffee thermal carafe machine I had before this one) is contained within the tank of the unit, and you depress a lever to dispense coffee into a cup or mug. This feature is convenient and kind of fun, and the machine looks attractive and different than others in it's price range, and really looks like a more expensive appliance..
Machine "died" in less than two years (the previous Mr.Coffee was still going strong after six years; I changed out of boredom). The thermal carafe/tank does not do quite as good a job of preventing cooling/oxidation as other thermal carafe machines I've had. Most thermal "go" mugs will not fit under the dispensing head, so to fill one of those you need to go through an intermediate step, which allows the coffee to cool further..
Buying Experience
Costco: pull it of the pallet; wait on line a bit.....no problem.
