Coffee Machines

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful.
don't think - buy one
By tim
i've had 3 machines of this ilk over the last 9 years. first a saeco, then 2 DL's (same company and bits inside basically).does everything, no fault no fuss. very very good coffee every time, easy, clean and ...great coffee. had 6 years from the first. gave it a good funeral it deserved it. the second going strong (ESAM4400) given to my kids. now I've got this one. perfect.de longhi support great. dont listen to the rubbish about them being bought out by kenwood/phillips. its a good thing. dont go for a model that does cappuchin milk in a jug. not hot enough and too many bubbles. milk is like a guinness head fron this machine.

41 of 44 people found the following review helpful.
A competent middle-range Coffee Machine, sadly not without its faults.
By James Petford
To say the world of coffee machines is vast is quite an understatement as there are literally HUNDREDS to choose from and this can make the task of trying to find a good one rather difficult.Coffee machines come in a huge variety of shapes and sizes, ranging from low priced budget machines for around £100 to fully fledged Hi-Tech machines that cost upwards of £1000 and beyond.This machine is a middle of the range model fitting in the £400-£500 category, which in my honest opinion is extremely pricey for a luxury item that is in effect a glorified kettle and grinder rolled into one.That said though, this machine does really does deliver the results and its already earned a permanent place in my kitchen. If you up to this point only have been using instant coffee granules then you seriously have been missing out as the quality/taste upgrade is considerable. If you weren't a coffee addict before, you certainly will when you fire up this machine a few times!PROS:*The machine uses proper coffee beans of your choosing, and the machine will digest the beans almost instantly which i really liked, which is handy if you are in a rush. It also has the option to use granulated coffee if you prefer (but i honestly can't imagine why you wouldn't want to use the proper beans when they deliver the best results.)*The machine is capable of producing coffees of various strengths and measurements, just by pressing a few buttons you can have the type and amount of coffee your choosing (for E.g Extra Mild Taste, Standard size coffee etc). The machine produces lattes, espressos and cappuccinos in particular very well.*The machine uses own built in water tank which means you don't have to fiddle about with complicated water plumbing; and its internal coffee tray means cleaning the machine is usually a simple case of opening the front door and emptying its contents into the bin and then you are done!CONS:*Its low hanging coffee and water spouts do let the side down. As this machine is mainly designed for proper coffee cups that are short, meaning if you are in a household that tends to use standard size mugs, then you are gonna have issues trying to prevent some of the contents spilling everywhere when you try and remove the mug after it has been filled.*The Water/Steam spout is a bit of a design flaw. Selecting whether you want to heat up your milk or add more water to your brew is achieved by pulling the nozzle slider down to the desired option. When you do this however its especially easy to catch your hand on the very hot over-hanging spout if you a little accident prone like me. A button press function instead of a nozzle slider would have solved this issue.*Its simplistic button scheme is rather counter-intuitive. Each function of the machine is represented by a symbol rather than words and even when you had time to practice and memorize what each button does, its very easy to make a mistake and the machine is very slow to react to the fact that you wish to cancel your action even when you press the Esc(ape) button several times. If simple word phrases were used instead this would have been a much user friendly machine to get to grips with.Overall this machine is delivers excellent coffee and that is what you would want the machine to do. It's just a shame that this machine has few too many quirks to warrant its rather large price tag in my view. So a decent attempt by DeLonghi, but you can definitely find better coffee machines for the same money.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful.
Bean to Cup Coffee
By Peter the Painter
After an initial delay caused by Yodel, the delivery people, I received a replacement machine the very next day, after I complained to Amazon. You can't get better than that!The machine makes exceptional coffee even using Sainsbury's own brand espresso beans. Much, much better than my old Gaggia bean to cup machine. I have been looking for something to complain about, but I can't find anything. The machine is much quieter than the Gaggia, the quantity of coffee dispensed is very accurate and the strength of the drink is consistant with the chosen settings. It is very simple to operate and even sinpler to set for one's own preferences. ( I usually have difficulty setting up new machines like video recorders and stuff, but this machine is very user friendly) I have had several compliments on the machine's appearance even without asking!What else can one say? the answer is that it is an exceptional machine, particularly for a domestic appliance, well made and does the job it was purchased for vey well indeed.