It has a thermal carafe which keeps coffee warm and the design is very pleasing to look at. Once everything is set up correctly, makes fine coffee.
Negative Product Points
Poor design of the carafe lid. Holds coffee and soapy water for days. Carafe leaks when pouring. It seems that coffee drips down the lip under the carafe rubber jacket and comes out the bottom. Water tank is very hard to fill without spilling water all over the place. I haven't managed to do it without spilling water yet. In hard water areas, the black finish requires a full external wipedown of the coffee maker.
Detailed Commentary
My 15 year-old Krups carafe broke and we decided to try a new coffee machine. My wife brought home the DeLonghi Caffe Elite from Costco (selling for about $30). Tried it out immediately and took three tries to use the right filter for the grind I had on hand. Once it was dialed in, it made great coffee BUT...
Every time I filler the water tank, regardless of using a mug, cup or measuring glass, I spilled water all over the place. Filling the tank must be done sloooo-wwww--lll---yyyy and with careful aim. The thermal carafe, while keeping the coffee warm for a few hours, leaked from the lip down under the cafare outerjacket and to the bottom. I never made a pot without using at least three paper towels. The last insult was the fact that the carafe cover held onto water and coffee in the interior of the lid! Obviously the carafe lid is hollow and in mulitple pieces, because I was never able to shake all the coffee and soapy water out of the lid.
I gave up using this coffee maker after two weeks.
Buying Experience
Bought it at Costco. Without the box, it wasn't worth bringing it back for a refund. I'm going to send it back to DeLonghi and tell them to keep it along with a good engineering school recommendation.
