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You can't use the coffee pot to measure and add water as you would with most coffee makers because you can't pour all of the water out of the pot. I spent some time looking at reviews for combo coffee/espresso machines, and this one got the best reviews. Its hard to explain, but a major design flaw.- The area below the express maker is too high for an express cup and too low for a standard express pot. But the negative comments I read were 'spot-on'. There are some basic design flaws that just don't make any sense:- Adding water to the coffee maker is tough because the top only opens to a certain point. Still haven't found something that fits properly.- The steaming element is very short and it is impossible to remove your espresso without hitting this very hot element.- The espresso is never very hot.This is not my first machine and I'm disappointed. Still looking for a great coffee/espresso combo
After reading multiple bad reviews, I thought, well. At $20 a cup, I think I'll go to a coffee house. Additionally, the foaming feature is really poor, I could probably make better bubbles with a plastic straw and microwaved milk.Unfortunately, while company is a big name in Europe, I live in the States. One year and 3 days later. The near impossible to find support line is 1-800-763-6699. I have a $400 dollar average coffee maker.The pump mechanism is exceptionally, scares the cat, noisy. I love the slick look, and those terrible things won't happen to me.Oh it will and did. (I could be a hero and treat my friends everytime at that cost).
The espresso and foaming features of this machine are no longer working. I'd say I got about 20 cups of decent espresso from it this year. So parts and repair shops are very few and far between. Trust me you'll need it.What a let down, please don't be taken in by this piece of junk.
This resulted in the pump work less and less efficiently over the next year until it wouldn't work at all. The frother worked fine. The first thing to go out on the machine was the lid for the basket filter for the coffee maker. After sitting on my shelf for about a year, I tried fixing it by taking it apart, to no avail.
The machine still made good drip coffee - but for the price of this machine, the lid shouldn't have failed this fast.For about the first six months, the espresso side made fairly good espresso. I knew something was up with this machine when I received it and found that all the "chrome" was mostly painted plastic. It then went on the shelf as I couldn't toss such an expensive machine away. The boiler unit for the espresso is indeed heavy brass (a good point). After about six months, I began having problems (with only once a week use).
By this point, it was out of warranty. Unfortunately, the system is just way to constricted to work efficiently (especially for descaling).Bottom line, this is not a horrible unit -- it's just not worth such an expensive price. A plastic hinge (connecting the inner lid to the outer) cracked, separating the two lids from each other.As a result, inner lid would not to slide in the groove it's attached to with the outer one, ensuring that the top lid would never close properly again - a strange engineering flaw. FYI -- The wiring in it is indeed stout. The machine needed scaling and I found it difficult to descale properly.
It had clogged to the point it wouldn't pump the descaling solution effectively (I waited too long to descale). The buttons are heavy duty as well. At a lower price point, I might consider it again - knowing to descale more frequently and realizing I'll have to put up with some poor design.
It makes fantastic beverages and that's the only reason I keep repairing it. Take the machine apart, set it to wide open, and watch your espresso like any other machine. Our Sintra is going on 5 years old now. America to obtain for that day when the light comes on but no coffee comes out.The older machines have a 2-part lid which hinges on 2 different axes. It's lasted longer than many machines we've had. Words of caution:The distributor is hopeless. No replacement, perhaps it's been redesigned.The cup size selector knob loses it's internal detent and will allow the machine to either short-cycle or run till the reservoir is empty.
Consistent coffee and espresso, cup after cup. It must have made ~2000 pots of coffee and easily that many espresso's. Words of praise:This thing is a workhorse. Don't try getting parts or an email/callback from him.There is a thermal fuse in the hotplate / drip boiler which, although ubiquitous in Europe, requires a trip to an electronics specialty store in N. The slip joint eventually gives out, or the house-sitter breaks it. Not the fastest drip machine out there, but well brewed and not over extracted. And it looks darn good doing it, although the design is a bit dated at this point (2009).
Coffee and the the cappaccino taste fantastic, much better than our last machine. This is a quality machine with sleek lines. Very nice looking and small, fits on the couter nicely. The only issue I have is pouring the water into the back of the coffee machine, the lid gets in the way and spills a little bit. Overall I would highly recommend this machine for any home or office.
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