Others say...

"Not so bad at all!"
Read the mixed reviews below but ordered anyway as this is the smallest high-end thermal. Yes, you have to pay attention until you've got the hang of it, but this model is just fine and brews a great cup of coffee quickly. The "pour" is nice and full with no spills whatsoever. The removable water basket with water filter a very nice feature. Once you learn to (1) securely snap the coffee filter holder into place by making sure either that you've folded down the edges of the paper filter (as required on most coffee makers), or making sure that you've fully positioned the gold mesh filter, and (2) properly screw and unscrew the coffee pot cap, it's a synch to use. ALSO, comes with a gold mesh filter, so don't order one separately as I did. Pre-heating the pot, as w/ most thermals, a good idea.

"Not worth it..."
This is the second coffee maker of this model for us. The first one was a gift and we loved it. About 2 months into use, the switch that allows you to remove the pot during brewing broke and it leaked a bit, but still made a great tasting cup of coffee in a thermal carafe. So, when we started doing our wedding registry, we decided to put this on it, thinking the broken piece was just a fluke.
The second one was worse than the first. We received it for our wedding shower, used it for three weeks and came down to coffe and grinds all over the counter, in the cabinets under the counter and on the floor. The whole thing was thoroughly cleaned out, vinegar was run through it to ensure nothing was clogged. The next morning... coffee everywhere again. The snap button that holds the filter arm in place for brewing does not stay so it pops open and the water continues to flow into it and it overflows everywhere.
Because it was a shower gift and not received until 2 months after it was purchased, Amazon will not take it back or replace it because it is 30 days past purchase date (even though it was a registry item). Looking back, I am sorry I ever gave this model a second chance and would not recommend it. Now we are stuck with a $100 coffee maker that worked for 3 weeks.

"Just bought my second one of these..."
When my girlfriend (now my wife) and I moved in together, she had one of these. I sort of adopted it. I loved it, despite a few drawbacks... namely I tend to make a mess with it. But then, I tend to make a mess with just about anything. Also, the doohickey that interrupts the brewing so you can poor a quick cup broke. I was a little disappointed, but soldiered on. It makes a damn fine pot of coffee.

About a month ago I finally managed to break the Capresso Elegance after 3 years of sometimes twice-a-day use, that's at least 1800 pots of coffee. I think the heating element burned out or something. So, in an anxious state of mind I ran down to the local Starbucks and bought their featured Delonghi coffee maker, mostly because it was Italian and looked cool. This was a big mistake: I should have known better. Having lived in Italy, it's clear that the Italians DO NOT KNOW THE FIRST THING ABOUT MAKING AMERICAN COFFEE. Why should they? They have their own lovely coffee tradition... The Delonghi made weak, anemic coffee, it was embarassingly bad. My wife refused to drink it. Not willing to admit that I'd made a mistake, I stuck up for it - but really, I was just fooling myself.

Finally, we decided to get another Capresso Elegance (actually this was a unilateral move on my wife's part... I was still in defensive man mode). We just couldn't live with mediocre coffee, life's too short. As I write this, I'm enjoying my first cup; and after a month of crappy coffee, I was inspired to come here and to write this review. This is a great cup of coffee. It's strong and flavorful. I know these coffee beans well, they're the same ones we brew at our coffeeshop with our very expensive professional coffeemaker, and I can honestly say that this Capresso does them justice.

So, it's not a perfect mechanism. But it does the job very, very well.

"Awful customer service/terrible product"
I would not buy a Capresso product again because of their TERRIBLE customer service. My coffee maker failed to make hot coffee, and the company wouldn't do anything other than blame me---user error!! Fortuantely, the seller (Plum's Cooking) was fabulous and agreed to take the coffee maker back and refund my money. I would shop with Plum's again, but not for a Capresso product. Be warned!!

"Cheap Coffeemaker=Expensive Coffee"
I purchased this coffee maker in January 2006 and generally use it only on weekends. It makes great coffee, but some months ago, the automatic timer stopped working. Now, more importantly, the clip at the bottom of the cone shaped basket that holds the filter has broken. The plastic cracked into several tiny pieces, rendering the coffee maker unusable. Another issue is that the carafe can not be immersed when cleaning. If I factor in the price of the coffee maker, filters, charcoal filters, coffee and creamer, I would have been further ahead to buy coffee by the cup at the local convenience store! Unfortunately the coffee maker is just outside the one-year warranty period, so I am on my own to find a replacement basket. I feel the quality of this item does not match up to the price!