Others say...

"I'm in love..."
I purchased this in 2004 as a Christmas present for my boyfriend. Since then it has been used at least once daily and has been wonderful! After reading the other reviews I felt compelled to write a review because I work at a coffee bar and feel that I am uniquely qualified to write a response.

Pros: First let me start with the coffee maker, this machine makes PHENOMINAL coffee!! Many people have not only complemented the flavor of the coffee but also the style of this machine, it's not stainless steel, but that doesn't mean that it looks cheap by any means. The gold tone filter is wonderful because you will never have to buy another coffee filter ever again. As far as filter maintenance is concerned, you do need to dump the used grounds into the garbage and rinse it out with water after every use, but that doesn't take more than a few seconds. I do clean the filter every month or so with dish detergent so that the coffee stays just as good as it was the first day of use. Another reviewer mentioned that the coffee didn't stop dripping when they pulled the coffee caraf out. All I can say to that is yes, the coffee will continue to drip until it's completely done brewing. We have never once had ANY problems like this with the machine.

Now for the espresso side, I'm going to address a few concerns from other reviews. For starters it takes 5 minutes of preheating time before the machine is ready to brew the espresso NOT 30! At the coffee bar where I work, we only use espresso pods. Illy pods are only a few dollars more than their ground espresso and are deffinitely worth every single cent for not having to deal with grounds. When brewing the espresso on this machine I should mention that the water will not shut off on its own so it needs to be watched and measured while being brewed. Depending on the pod and whether it's a single or double will determine how many shots of espresso it is supposed to make. A single pod should be used for a single shot of espresso 1 1/2 oz. - 2oz.(1/4 cup). A double pod would be good for 3 oz. - 4 oz.(1/3-1/2 cup). We have not once had an issue with watered down espresso. If more water is used than that, then the espresso will be watered down, if using ground coffee beans instead of espresso beans, then it's not going to be as strong. Coffee and espresso are different in a few very important ways, trust me.

Cons: Something to keep in mind if you have a minimal amount of counter space is that this machine is somewhat bigger than your average coffee maker. Something also worth mentioning is the steam arm, although it can be detatched from the machine to be cleaned, if it's not cleaned almost immediately I can see it being a HUGE pain in the neck to clean.

Overall, we have been super happy with this machine and its quality. I bought it on ebay for $250 in October of 2004 and has been worth every single penny since then.

"there are better ones out there"
I thought I did enough research before buying this machine but apparently not enough. I was disappointed in 1. the design ( looks rather cheap) and 2. the performance. The coffee maker didn't stop dripping either water or coffee when you pulled out the pot and for the espresso part you need to REHEAT the unit 30 MINUTES prior to use!!! So much about being flexible about having an espresso! If you really enjoy good coffee you need to invest more, unfortunately.

"Very Disappointing"
On the outside, this is a beautiful machine. Unfortunately, the mechanics don't match. 6 months after my wife and I purchased it, the hinge on the back cover broke. I contacted Delonghi to see if it was covered under the warranty. Of course it was not and I had to purchase a new one. Then, after having it for just over a year, the coffee maker quit completely. I had to take it to one of their authorized repair facilities to get it fixed. I have been without the coffee maker for 1 month now and they still don't know when they will get the parts from Delonghi. I do not drink coffee and my wife drinks maybe 1/2 cup a day. My wife owned a Mr. Coffee that lasted more than 10 years. You would think that with the price of this machine it would have lasted much longer. My recommendation to you is to save your money and buy a Mr. Coffee!

"great drip coffee, average espresso"
The drip coffee is wonderful, but the espresso is weak. It seems like the pump does not generate enough pressure to make real, full bodied espresso. Overall, a satisfactory purchase.

"If you're willing to pay this much, get a full-automatic machine."
I checked out this machine at a local store. It's little more than a basic drip coffee maker bundled with a basic espresso machine. For that functionality it would be far cheaper to buy those two things separately.

Regarding this Delonghi machine, on the drip coffee side, metallic coffee filters are a royal pain to work with-- paper filters are far easier to use when disposing of coffee grounds. On the espresso side, you have to grind the beans and tamp them into the strainer for each cup you make, and then empty the strainer when you're done. The optional filter pods are a really expensive way to buy ground coffee. For only a bit more money ($500 or so) you can get a full automatic espresso/cappuccino maker. I bought a full-automatic several years ago and my family loves it! Full-automatics grind the beans for each cup, they make excellent American-style coffee as well (simply by increasing the amount of water pushed through the coffee), and you dispose of grounds once a week. The only disadvantage of full-automatics is that like every espresso machine, they do only one or two cups at a time. So if you want to make more than two cups of drip coffee at once, you'll need a plain old coffee maker like the right-hand side of the Delonghi.