Huge step up from blade grinders, though if I was in the market for another, I'd be tempted to look at the Solis.
Positive Product Points
This grinder is affordable and doesn't take up very much counter space. It was a terrific upgrade from my previous blade grinder.
Negative Product Points
There is HUGE static problem with this thing. Worse yet, while grinding, grounds are flying out onto my counter, even with the bin in place. Grinds are not terribly consistent. It's a tad noisy, but then again, what low cost grinder isn't?
Detailed Commentary
The grinder "works" for what it is . . . a low cost burr grinder. When I made the purchase, I was primarily brewing in press pots, occasionally a drip brewer. For the most part, it worked well, although there is a significant amount of dusting which accumulates near the top of the coffee bin, which just "sticks" near the top. Since it doesn't drop to the bottom of the bin, I usually just scoop from the bottom and end up clearing out the clumped dust into the garbage.
As mentioned early, there is a HUGE static problem with this grinder. As I'm scooping, I'll see grinds jumping out all over the place. This can (and does) quickly get annoying.
When I made the move to purchase an espresso machine, I couldn't get the grinder to produce a fine enough grind. Upon closer inspection, I found that despite turning the dial from 9 to 1, I could barely notice the distinction between the two grinds!
I still have this grinder -- it's dedicated to feeding my French Press and Yama vacuum brewer and still works relatively well when requiring a coarser grind. I've since purchased a Mini to feed my espresso machines.
Grinding about 5 cups/day (5 on the selector on the front this grinder), I find that I need to remove the top burr assembly about once a month to scrub the build-up of dust sitting on "top" off the burr (in the plastic housing bolted to the top of the burr), otherwise, the beans will fail to drop in between to burrs.
The grinder has held up fine so far (about 14 months of regular use), though I do question how much longer it will last. The replacement is likely to be something along the lines of the Solis Maestro (only because it's too inconvenient to dial the Mini in and out between grinding for my espresso machine and then my press pot).
Buying Experience
Not much to add here -- went to Williams-Sonoma and picked up the only burr grinder I could find.
