Coffee Machines

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 50 people found the following review helpful.
Great for bean to cup but...
By marcoscu
This is the first Bean to Cup coffee machine I have had. I was very happy with my previous machine, a De'Longhi EC820.B Pump Espresso Coffee Machine, Black which I plan to replace with this new unit along with my coffee grinder the rather good Krups Expert GVX231 Burr Coffee Grinder Burr Coffee Grinder.There are several De'Longhi Bean to Cup machines and I suspect they share a core mechanism but vary greatly in the level of automation and finish. Amongst the range this is a one of the the most junior with plastic construction and manual operation. The more costly machines have a metal construction and finish along with a programmable memory and often LCD display screens. None of which will make the coffee taste any better.The machine is well packaged and unlike the other De'Longhi machine comes with a relatively easy to read user guide. The build quality although of plastic seems to be solid and robust.The machine will work with either roasted coffee beans or from pre ground coffee but it is clearly orientated towards the full Bean to Coffee process. Using ground coffee limits the amount and nature of the coffee you can make and is clearly something of an afterthought.Using the machine is easy enough, it first quickly heats up and then performs a brief self cleaning routine. Beans are added to the hopper, water to the tank, select one or two cups, press the button and off it goes. Due to large internal grounds receptor it is possible to charge the machine in the morning and keep it on standby all day dispensing fresh coffee as required with no need to add more beans or water or clean the machine between cups.The steam nozzle is works well although slightly less powerfully or noisily than on my previous machine. Cleaning the nozzle is quick and easy with just a wipe down for the plastic sheath and a quick steam burst for the inside pipework.In use the machine is quite noisy, as most of them are, and the whole process is quite lengthy, again probably in common with its rivals. The coffee mill is supposed to be set to the optimum level at the factory but I found it necessary to set it myself to produce an satisfactory grind, an easy enough process.Cleaning it is nice simple: just empty out the internal used coffee grounds bin and rinse it out. The machine itself will clean the internal mechanism itself before use but the insides can be removed if required should a problem arise.The coffee it produces, once the machine has been set to your particular liking is strong and tasty with a excellent crema. This is the most important thing.If you want an easy to use one touch bean to coffee machine at a reasonable price then this would be a great buy. If you plan to mainly use pre ground coffee then perhaps look again.The GoodMakes great coffeeGood build qualityExcellent printed user guideEasy to keep cleanSupplied coffee spoon stores away neatlyLarge transparent water resevoirCan be preloaded for a multiple cups of coffeeThe BadNoisyNo cup warmerUsing pre ground coffee disappointingSelf cleaning routine is slowNeeded to reset coffee mill grind level

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful.
A cup above the rest.
By Flickering Ember
I found this coffee machine a joy to use. It's easy to use and literally is "Bean to cup" making fantastic, professional standard coffee with the touch of a button.It's easy to get it perfectly in tune with your needs, as it dispenses from variable heights, meaning you can make espresso in an espresso cup, enjoy a cup of cauppuccino, or have a mug of Americano.I found it much easier to operate using whole coffee beans as opposed to ground coffee, although the machine is pretty noisy when it operates, especially when grinding the beans.I found it works well with any milk...I love soya milk as it froths up even better than dairy milk for topping a cappuccino, and this machine handled it with no problem. It also provided me with a very tasty hot chocolate.Everything about this machine is great, including the ease of cleaning it and maintaining it. Despite the initial outlay, it offers fantastic value for money when compared with purchasing even a single cup per day from one of the big name retailers...it soon pays for itself!

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful.
Very good for the price
By chrisor
I decided to go for a bean-to-cup after using my son's machine. My Gaggia Classic made ok coffee, but it tended to be cold and difficult to get a decent sized mug.Incidently, the 4000 is exactly the same as the 4200, not an earlier model - just black instead of silver (which you pay an extra £10 for).Almost straight away I was getting an excellent cup of coffee, quickly and, of course, very easily. It heats up reasonably quickly from cold, and quicker from standby. An eco option will turn it off after a pre-set time varying for 15 minutes to 3 hours. I thought the tray was a bit flimsy, but it is not something you are pulling in and out all the time. The water tank is robust and comes out of the front rather than the top so the machine can go under a high level kitchen unit. You only need to access the top to refill with beans or to use the ground coffee option - but if you buy a bean-to-cup, why would you want to?It is quite noisy, but they all are. It doesn't feel as solid as my son's Siemens, but you have to put this into context- it costs £280 not £500+. It does have a two year warranty. Cleaning is easy and descaling done automatically with the use of their descaling kit which costs about £7 but only needs doing every couple of months - less if in soft water (they give you a hardness tester and you set the machine accordingly)I'm not a pretentious barista, I just like a nice cup of coffee and this machine does that admirably. I'm pleased with it and I think it compares favourably with much more expensive machines. Wilst it does have a few minor negatives I am still happy to give it 5 stars as it is very good value. If you want to spend £800 - £1000 you will get a better machine, but most of that extra money will only benefit your ego when showing off to your friends.