Coffee brewed is excellent... but machine mechanics is awkward at best
Positive Product Points
very good tasting coffee, a notch better than other brewers second-cup taste: excellent, far better than others fast brewing (2 mugs/4.5 cups - about 3 minutes)
Negative Product Points
carafe - abysmal pouring spout, screw-in lid/plug isn't much better - both are very poorly designed plastic basket and clip-on pot base seem cheap doesn't automatically turn off spray head appears to primarily inject water into center-area only of coffee grounds cost relative to value, hard to define: overpriced - yes. Brews very good coffee - yes. more parts and pieces to fiddle with than average "Cup" markings on the side unrelated to actual volume of a cup
Detailed Commentary
Carafe pouring is a major negative - the spout and the screw-in lid/plug. Coffee pours from the spout in a very wide fashion, i.e., not channeled. It's easy to spill, especially toward the end. When pouring the last cup the carafe has to be nearly inverted - guaranteed to splash and spill, plus burn your hand.
Screw in lid is about worthless from a pouring perspective. Amazing how something so basic could escape good design practice.
Carafe almost demands that it be pre-heated before actually brewing coffee - pre-heating adds 5-10 minutes if done properly. If not done, second cup poured 15-20 minutes later is appreciably less warm
Cost vs value... despite the good-taste brew, price is hard to justify. Carafe-pouring defect (and screw in lid) is the deal breaker. If had to do it again... I wouldn't buy.
Buying Experience
Buying experience and delivery from Boyd's was very, very slow - a week before it was even shipped.
Three Month Followup
Carafe pouring spout design remains as a major negative, an issue that is experienced every time a cup is poured; difficult to fathom how some parts of a noteworthy machine are well-designed... and ineptly designed - what were they thinking? Or not.
