Great grinder that produces great espresso and french press grinds with no static problems. But you need to buy it from Baratza and ask for it to be factory calibrated to "fine".
Positive Product Points
Very quiet grinder. Produces almost no static. Very consistent grind that grinds great for espresso and french press. This is a solid, heavy, well built and good looking machine. Baratza is great to work with. Milled burrs and a DC motor produce a great grind.
Negative Product Points
Out of the box the grinder was very disappointing. Though it had 40 settings it ground too coarse at setting 25-40 to be useful for anything and setting 0 wasn't fine enough for espresso. I had to go to the company to remedy the problem.
Detailed Commentary
I have owned a Solis (Baratza) Maestro Plus for a couple of years and found it to be very competent for espresso and french press. So I was excited to buy their "top-of-the-line" model especially since Baratza had added so many great features. However, when I got it out of the box and put it to use I found that it came up very short. Though it had 40 settings it ground too coarse at setting 25-40 to be useful for anything and setting 0 wasn't fine enough for espresso. I followed the online instructions for recalibrating the machine but it still did not remedy the problem. I contacted Baratza to give them some feedback and let them know that I would be returning it and the guy I talked to (Joe) was great. He said that he would have me one calibrated in the factory, mail it to me, and also send a UPS return tag to send back the other one. So in a few days I received another machine and it cost me nothing. The new machine works like a dream. It grinds perfect for french press and for espresso now. I don't have any problems with static and the grinds come out uniform and consistent. I am very pleased with Baratza and my new grinder.
Buying Experience
I bought this machine at a Starbucks because they gave me a deal.
