After the Krups ProAroma 453 died, I discovered that my Favorite Coffee Maker of All Time (and the whole ProAroma series) has been terminated.
A quick check of the immediately-available sub-$100 genre yielded several brands that are radioactive-from-past-experience, or thermals that seemingly haven't shaken the luke-warm-temp irritation I had with an Oster 20 years ago, and... the FME-2.
After web reviews nearly convinced me that Krups had lost its collective mind, I scanned old reviews of the ProAroma. Seems a lot of folks don't like the way Krups builds coffee makers. Listening to my inner-different drummer, I tapped my spouse for a Bed, Bath & Beyond 20% off coupon and took the plunge.
Forty bucks later, I ran a couple of tanks of hot water through it, installed the filter and brewed my first pot. Mildly disappointing... too much bite. Second pot... better.
Third pot (a day later)...
My ProAroma Experience is back... with improvements. The black matte finish hides smudges better than the old high gloss plastic. The re-designed glass pot is easier to pour sans dribble.
Will the FME-2 work for you? Well, if you emphatically don't believe in exposing ground coffee to open air overnight to avoid 30 seconds of morning prep time... And you suck down a couple of cups, then transfer the balance to an insulated carafe... And you expect 12 cups of coffee to come out after pouring 12 cups of water in... And (most of all) you enjoy a well-wrought cuppa joe...
You might agree that the FME-2 represents the best forty bucks you ever spent. Time will tell, but so far, I'm a fanboy.
Buying Experience
Bed, Bath and Beyond: 20% off coupon, 100% return policy, and people so friendly they'll scare you. No coupon? You're not trying. They're everywhere.
Three Month Followup
Truth is, it DOES dribble quite easily. (Luckily, I always pour over the sink.) Still makes a great cuppa joe.
One Year Followup
Would be nice to set the timer so the coffee is ready at 5:30am, but any power blip resets the machine... and timer-setting is NOT intuitive.
Also, the dribbling-on-pour becomes more tiresome as time goes on.
