Help me choose, bean to cup machine

[croyde]

I have been pondering getting one of these machines after an excellent coffee at a mate's house.

His is this one http://www.seriousaboutcoffee.com/products/esam420... which is around £300 but Amazon will have them at £229 at the end of November but Currys have this

one http://www.seriousaboutcoffee.com/products/esam280... at £219.

I can't really see any difference in specs apart from the more pricey one has 13 different grind settings whilst the cheaper one has 'only' 7.

On the DeLonghi site the RRPs are £449 and £429.

Any one got one and can recommend or not, cheers.

[mr_tony]

Depends how much coffee you drink.
I had the precursors to this machine a few years ago.
I drink a lot of coffee.
The coffee was ok. However I did have issues.
The first broke down and could not be fixed, got a new one under warranty. That broke too after 6 months.
Basically they are fine if you use them to do dinner party coffee every now and again or at the weekend.
If you drink many cups a day (and you live with a coffee lover too so make that 10 or more a day) then it's probably worth investing in something more robust in my view.

[croyde]

Thanks mr tony, I tend to only have one maybe a second in the morning but I like it to be nice so I bought the £219 one. Apparently the same specs as the other one just doesn't have the pretend chrome buttons and switches.

Lets see how I get on. I may regret losing my £12 Moka pot

[mr_tony]

Sure it will serve you well. Stick to the cleaning or servicing routine - should ensure reliability.

[croyde]

Thanks again. Buzzing off my nut now as I have been experimenting with the settings to get the taste how I like it and it just seemed a waste not to drink the whole cup rather than just sip it

[BrewsterBear]

croyde said:

His is this one http://www.seriousaboutcoffee.com/products/esam420... which is around £300 but Amazon will have them at £229 at the end of November

I have this machine in black, rather than silver. The reason I bought it is we have one at work and it's had 24/7 hammer for the last 3 years. Still going strong, if looking a little worse for wear. I bought mine from Currys when they reduced it from £400 to £250.

I love it. Stumble to the kitchen in my dressing gown, place a mug under the spout, turn it on, throw away the little flush through when it switches on, replace cup, press button, instant fresh coffee. The only niggles are filling it up with water so often and it is quite loud. No problem for me, but if you have little to block the sound between kitchen and living area it would be enough to make you pause the telly.