De'Longhi ESAM3300 Magnifica Super Automatic Espresso & Coffee Machine, Silver

Why did we buy it?Our purchase was based on wanting to improve our morning coffee without the mess of a dirty coffee pot and often wasted coffee, using harmful plastic capsules, or committing the time and effort needed to use a manual expresso machine.What do we love about it?We love everything about it. You simply set your grind preferences, turn it on and after its ready (maybe a minute?) you hit one button and your hot amazing expresso comes out! That's it! And it's very easy to clean and maintain as well.But we don't drink Expresso?Keep in mind, we are traditional coffee drinkers, but this makes wonderful coffee by simply adding your frothed milk to the expresso, and we enjoy adding a little sweetness too. I was surprised to find I'm using less sugar now because the coffee has no bitter taste. We were not even aware our old coffee was bitter until we got this new De'Longhi, and my husband has completely stopped adding sugar all together.What kinds of beans do we use?We use Lavazza Espresso Italiano Whole Bean Coffee Blend as several reviews suggested. The coffee that comes out of this machine with these beans is simply delicious, but sure you can use any quality coffee or expresso beans of preference. We also enjoy using this same brand of expresso beans too, both are excellent.What features are helpful?This automatic machine has smart and helpful light indicators to let you know when it needs water, beans or dumping of grinds so your coffee will never again stop pouring mid-stream. It's well designed and takes us only a few minutes to maintain each week. There are controls for grind preferences and strength. They made everything super easy, which is great because to put it kindly, I'm not technically inclined.Is frothing difficult?Since we are not baristas, and both drink regular coffee with creamer, we were happy that the steam spout is powerful and needs no fancy maneuvers to pile up a quick cup of hot creamy froth.Any Negatives?There is nothing hard or difficult about this machine, with the exception of leaving home, as it will be very 'hard' to pay for a pricey cup of Starbucks as you will find it 'difficult' to go without your wonderful morning coffee!How long do we expect this machine to last?Lastly, we researched different manufactures and discovered Delongi has been around over 200 years and they have shops all over the US that will help maintain your machine to last a lifetime. My sister has same Magnifico De'Longhi machine but a manual model she bought over 20 years ago and it's still going strong!Doubting new automatic machines will last as long as the manual ones (which I think with proper care will last a lifetime) but for the convenience of automation we will be happy to replace it after a decade or so. Imagine by then they will have "touchless" where you just talk to it and tell it what you want, and it will automatically put your cup under the spout and pour it out for you. Then in the not-too-distant future, a robot will bring it to you! (How lazy can we get?)Do I think it's worth the price?We purchased this machine used 'LIKE NEW', which we guessed was an unused return, and we saved half the retail price! When it came, you could tell it was Brand new/ never used, and it worked perfectly! If you'd like to save a small fortune like we did, I suggest you wait for Black Friday or search now for a similar 'like new' return. We knew Amazon would take it back if there were any issue in 30 days at no cost to us as prime members, so it was a 'low risk' for an inconvenience, to save over $600. Would I pay full price for it? Not if I could save a bundle like I did, but if I couldn't and if I could afford it retail, yes, in a heartbeat.

Let me state this up front: We're coffee snobs. We buy our our own fair-trade green coffee beans and roast them in a Hottop coffee roaster. That's largely because we prefer a "city roast" rather than what we perceive to be "burnt" (which is why you won't find me at a Starbucks). So it's no surprise that we have gone through several coffee and espresso machines; and travel with a small brewing setup. We even bought a Bonavita BV1900TS 8-Cup Carafe Coffee Brewer for the occasions when the "real" machine is on the fritz. So yeah... kind of obsessive, maybe.So when Amazon Vine offered me the Saeco HD8911/47 Saeco Incanto Classic Milk Frother Super Automatic Espresso Machine, I said Yes with alacrity. For the last several weeks, it's been sitting next to the DeLonghi ESAM3300 Magnifica Super-Automatic Espresso/Coffee Machine, which we've owned for two years. That's given us an opportunity to do true side-by-side testing. Or, to put it another way, it gives us an excuse to drink twice as much coffee.Let me set a context, first. Although these are both espresso machines, in point of fact we rarely make espresso and even more rarely use the milk steamer. Our goal is one-touch "give me a cup of coffee to drink NOW," because making a whole pot means either (a) you don't finish the pot, which means you're wasting good coffee or (b) you run out when you want another cup but don't want to invest the time for just a single cup. While we have an Aeropress and another independent Kickstart-provided unit for travel, that's still far more fussing, particularly when the aim is to grab another cup before yet another online meeting, not to wait around in the kitchen for water to boil.In any case, I have had the opportunity to use both these machines, which are in the same general price range, and I like to think my opinion can help you make a better decision. And thus a two-for-one review, with a bit more attention to the newer unit and to comparisons rather than standalone feature descriptions.Let me start out with the most important point: These are both excellent units, and each deserves a 5-star rating. You won't be sorry if you choose either one of these machines. Both fulfill their god-given (or at least manufacturer-given) role, which is to make good coffee appear at the touch of a button, and for that I am grateful.Rather, what follows is an intentionally nit-picking analysis. Because I know that when _I_ spend several hundred bucks on a kitchen item, I want to choose equipment that matches my needs. Let's see if yours match mine.The DeLonghi is a solid piece of equipment. As most other reviewers have written, it does an excellent job of grinding and brewing. It holds most of a bag of coffee (should you eschew the hipness or time-consuming process of roasting). It does require a bit of daily maintenance, and we've found the machine to be a bit fussy. It already went back to the shop once under warrantee (thus the backup coffee machine, when I realized I'd be stuck for weeks); since then it objected to a failed de-scaling, and now we have a red light stuck on. This has made me just an eensy bit cranky.Another dumb-but-real annoyance: A regular coffee mug fits fine under the spout of the DeLonghi; however, you're out of luck if you have an extra-tall mug (I've a favorite that says "Troublemaker" OH SURE ACT SURPRISED).Those quibbles aside, it takes 42 seconds to emit a cup of steaming "keep me awake juice," and I had no thought of replacing it.The Saeco Incanto is narrower than the DeLonghi, which means it doesn't take up as much room in your kitchen (though they're essentially the same height). I can use my tall mugs. It's faster to turn the unit on, and it doesn't insist that you clean things up quite so often. It has a visual display screen rather than buttons, which implies that it's easier to understand status messages (though in point of fact it isn't any more helpful).The Saeco's water tank is slightly larger. You can pour water into it rather than having to pull out the container for refills, which is a nice convenience. It's a good thing, too, since it's awkward to pull out the container. The Saeco also shuts off the grinding process when you open the lid on the coffee side ("Oh hey was I out of beans?"); it's a good safety feature, even if I've never been drawn to poke my fingers in the mechanism.The Saeco's default coffee setting uses less coffee than the DeLonghi. By eye, the coffee puck (biscuit? what do YOU call those things?) is about 10% smaller. The result is coffee with a bit less intense mouth feel, by which I mean, "I like the coffee from the DeLonghi a little better" and by which my husband means that the DeLonghi's cup is slightly less acidic. But I think that's only noticeable side-by-side, in the way that you'd never see the differences in two TVs unless you're looking at both of them in a big showroom.You can adjust the Saeco settings from its default (probably 5 oz) up to an 8 ounce cup of coffee but then it tastes over-brewed. It's probably better to adjust for a 4 ounce shot and do a double shot. When you do so it makes a pretty good cup of coffee!Initially, the Saeco seems a lot less fussy. But in reality it's just spreading out the fuss. For example, by default the unit turns itself off really fast. Even if you adjust the setting to the maximum, it shuts off in an hour. We often wander into the kitchen a few times in a morning to get a cup of coffee before a meeting starts, and it's annoying to wait for the Saeco to start up again when it's 8:58 and I've a 9am meeting. Worse, on each startup it shoots water to clean itself up, so it wastes more than the DeLonghi.Plus, removing the tray underneath the Saeco (to clean out water and pucks) is a bit of a pain. You have to push buttons on both sides of the unit and pull out the tray for cleaning, which (depending on your counter arrangements) can be inconvenient. There's a bit more jiggling-things-around than I like, and that's when the unit is new. On a slick countertop I'd be concerned about the whole thing sliding off.And it's necessary more often. The Saeco is touchy, displaying a message that the waste bin is full very early; sometimes it complains after two biscuits. That may be a failure of user interface, as we think it's saying, "Open me up!" rather than giving an explicit indicator. The DeLonghi accomplishes that with DasBlinkenLights, with which we've already become familiar.I read through this and conclude, "She must hate the Saeco." Honestly, I don't. I like both these machines quite a bit. I'm used to the DeLonghi, and I might have had more criticism of it when it was new (and likely did, because it replaced another espresso machine I'd liked and which no longer was made). But given an opportunity to compare-and-contrast, I find myself analyzing the merits of each one.Again, both of these are quite good and deserve 5 stars because they deliver what they promise. But if I was forced to keep only one, I'd hold onto the DeLonghi.