DeLonghi Nescafe Dolce Gusto Creativa Plus Coffeemaker, Black

Enjoying the coffee and saving money too...
The Pros, 1. Dolce Gusto uses a 2 capsule process to make cappuccino (one for milk, another for the coffee) which is the only capsule machine I found that would do it (without adding a milk tank). 2., the results are quite good - equal to what I would pay for at a StarBucks or other store 3., it did not take long to tweak the timing and have the machine memorize my preferred settings., 4 it's quick, even using the two pod coffees or hot chocolate (the menu screen on the Creativa lets you memorize settings). The Cons, 1., I think the water tank could have been a little larger, 2., drinks are not quite as hot as I would prefer., 3., I need my 2X power reading glasses to read the menu. 4., the adjustable height cup platform is tweaky. Pricing on this model varies wildly, up to $60-$70 difference online, I never found this model in a retail store. I watched Amazon for a couple of months before finally buying when it went on sale. If you want one, be patient and watch for the best...

Love this coffe/cappucinno/latte/cocoa maker!!!
I bought this item as a 'Santa' present for myself and my husband for Christmas 2011, and we've used it almost every day since then! I love coffee drinks like Lattes and Macchiatos from a big brand name coffee shop, and the ones I can now make at home save me time and money, and the flavor is just as good, sometimes better! I especially like the vanilla latte and the caramel latte flavors, and my husband is a big fan of the american house blend coffee. My parents have a Tassimo at their house, and I have a Keurig at my work, and I find that I like the taste of the coffee drinks (lattes/macchiatos) from the Dolce Gusto much more. The Creativa is a very smart machine, offering to save our customized versions (my hubby likes extra coffee, sometimes I like extra milk in my coffee drinks), brews very quickly, and isn't nearly as noisy as the 1st generation Tassimo my parents have at their house! Love love love love love this machine!!!

Better than the other brands out there.
Great single serve coffee maker....makes great coffee..better than the Keurig single serve coffee makers as I own both brands..this is by far much better.

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De'Longhi CTH2003 2-Slice Toaster

Toast size matters
With my last 3 toasters I have had to rotate the toast half way through toasting to be sure the top 20% of the slice was done. This time I decided to get the toaster with the largest toasting depth. Unfortunately that dimension is not defined in any toaster specs. that I could find. Therefore I visited every store appliance store in our area and measured the effective toasting depth on every display model. Most toasters have a toasting depth of 4.0 ins. to 4.25 ins. The DeLonghi has a toasting depth of 5.0 ins. I bought it and my toasting problem has been solved.

Great Toaster
After many years of having a toaster oven, I finally got sick of the mess of it and decided to go with a toaster instead. My husband actually picked this one because of reviews he had read on it. I love several of the features on it. You have a defrost cycle for your frozen items that works perfectly on bagels. Then there is the bagel setting that only toasts the inside parts of the bagel, which keeps the crust soft. While I will admit it took several tries to figure out the way to put the bagels in for this feature....once you get it ...you'll love it. I finally have perfect toast, bagels and waffles. I also love to crumb trays....so easy to clean.

It's OK
My old DeLonghi finally broke after many years of good service, and I wanted another 4-slice toaster in stainless steel, so naturally I selected this one. It's OK but some earlier reviewers were correct -- it tends to toast the bread a little too light, and I don't mean only frozen bread or bagels. It's adequate and I love how it looks, but I keep it on the highest setting and sometimes have to pop the toast back down for a second time.

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DeLonghi ECAM23210B Compact Magnifica S Beverage Center, Black

Great when it works, but waited months for repair - terrible customer support
Machine worked fantastic for about 8 months until the frother would no longer work. A call to Delonghi support (Oct '11) resulted in a seven day wait for box to ship the unit to a repair facility (Nov '11). That facility determined within a week it needed a new frother, but Delonghi took two months and never supplied the part the repairer. After 2.5 months (Jan '12) of waiting I again called Delonghi and asked that they just send me a replacement unit so that I didn't have to keep waiting. Ten days later, a replacement (refirb) unit showed up only to arrive broken (this time leaking water into the grounds tray). Initial calls to Delonghi were met with scripted "you'll need to send us the unit and wait for our evaluation..." rather than them just shipping me out a replacement immediately and my returning the defective one. Sigh. Such an excellent product when it is working. Customer service just doesn't think a $800+ product deserves better care. Delonghi should study Apple to learn...

for the rest of us
I spent a LOT of time looking at the different sites for expresso machines. Most suggested staying away from the super automatics. I dont doubt that you can make an even finer cup of coffee if you have full control and spend the time to do it, but for those of us that want to grab a cup in the AM before heading out the door, this machine does a really nice job. I had a manual machine once in the past but never spent the time with it, plus it took 5 mins of prep work and cleanup was drag, I ended up giving it away. Yes it made great coffee, but it ended up sitting on a shelf next to the ice cream maker (never buy one of those :-)). This is a much better device for me.

The Compact Magnifica (23210) works great out of the box. The machine comes with a coupon for a tap water filter, but they really should have included it for those that want to use tap water and live in hard water cities. If you have filtered water at your place (or use a brita etc) this will not affect you...

DeLonghi Compact Espresso Machine
One thing about this machine is that it makes great coffee. Great design that will fit most kitchen areas. Just decalcified the machine for the first time, also my first and it took about 40 min.. The directions in the manual were slightly different than how the machine prompted me but I followed the machines direction and all went well. I highly recommend this type of coffee maker, because of verity of coffee making choices, ease of use, and of course taste. I drink at least 4 cups a day.
I would buy this type of machine again.

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