De'LonghiMagnifica Start Automatic Espresso Machine with Auto Milk Frother & Built in Grinder - 5 One-Touch Recipes, Easy-to-Clean, Home Barista Coffee Maker for Lattes, Cappuccino, Iced Coffee

I bought my wife this for Christmas, I read a hundred reviews on this and the Philips 3200/3300, I chose this one because of the stainless steel grinder over the ceramic grinder. My wife is a coffee geek and I was so stressed she would like this machine. This was the best Christmas gift I have ever bought her that she truly loves!!!! I also bought her starbucks whole beans and pre-ground. That morning all she could do, was set up her new machine. I have read it takes a quite a few brews until if breaks in, all I know is she claims the first brew was the best cup of coffee she has ever had, however a couple weeks in she says the same thing. About 30 days of use, the descale light came on and even though it will still brew with the light on, she didn't use it that day before work and stopped at starbucks to get a cup and said she ended up throwing away the starbucks because it seemed too weak and didn't taste as good as her machine. When I got home, I followed the instructions on how to descale and it was super simple and took about 30 mins, and she's off making the best coffee she's ever had.I read reviews that this machine is high maintenance, I wouldn't agree with those reviews, you have to add water when it gets low and you have to empty the hockey puck tray every other day. As for descaling, I think there's a built in timer that is based on how many cups of coffee brewed instead of a sensor in the machine sensing scale build-up, I say this because we use R/O water to fill the tank and the machine has a built in filter also. Either way, the maintenance is not excessive. This is by far the best Christmas gift she said I ever got her and seeing her this happy over her coffee makes me happy!By the way, she use to go to starbucks 6 days a week and for what they charge for a cup of coffee, this machine has practically paid for itself as she no longer goes to starbucks!If any of you are on the fence about purchasing this machine, this is the one to buy! I would buy this machine again!

I have had quite a few espresso machines over the years. I have assembled large commercial machines and used simple Vietnameese fins. I paid full price for this new machine. My last machine was a Gamea Revo and I got almost 20K cups of coffee out of it before it started to fall apart. I was on the fence between ordering the DeLonghi Evo or the Start. The Evo has been around for a while and is more expensive. But it is on sale for half price. The Start is a new machine that is slightly more than the Evo sale price. It has less buttons and bells and whistles. But it has several distinct advantages. First it comes with a 2 year warranty which can be extended to 3 years just by registering the machine. So no need to purchase an extended warranty. I did not opt for the automatic milk frother because my wife and I drink our coffees black. This machine was easy to setup and required only a few test cups to get the brew right. The grinder was set up perfect to begin with. I also programned the buttons for my preferences including strongest coffee setting. Once set it makes consistent great coffee. The crema is about .5 inches. The coffee comes out hot. There is an auto off feature which you can set from 15 min to 3 hours. My last fancy machine had all kinds of programming but no auto off. It is very valuable to save the life of your boiler. It holds lots of beans (1/4 pound) but not too much water (5-6 cups) but is easy to refill the water without removing the water tank entirely. There are visual warnings as well as beeps for any problems (like water low, beans low, tray missing, etc.) but not constant beeping just one beep and a red pictograph of the problem. So, I am very happy with the machine. My wife gets up at 4am and has her coffee before leaving for work. This machine does not have auto on but starts up in less than one minute (if you turn off the energy saving option). She is very happy with this simple to operate esperesso machine that makes great coffe or Americano. The design is excellent with less to go wrong. It is narrow but just as deep and tall as most macines. So it takes up less linear counter space. I hope it lasts as long as my last machine.An update after 3 months of daily use. We make at least 4 large cups of coffee per day. Usually more. Plus the occaisional Americano or Espresso. This machine has performed superbly. I use filtered akaline water which reduces the need for descaling. The descale icon comes up after 2 months of daily use. The engineering that went into this machine is really someting. The brew group is simplified and easier to clean. It has much less moving parts than the traditional brew groups. I am very impressed. The only negatives so far are: 1) If it runs out of water in the middle of a brewing cycle it does not resumme after you add water. It goes back to beginning and you have to manually add water to a half brewed cup of coffee. 2) The dark tint of the water tank makes it difficult to see the water level. Both of these are minor annoyances. But the ease of operation and consistancy of great coffee far outweigh these.

Best espresso machine I’ve ever had and I’ve had about 6. This one is very user friendly. What really sold me was the fact that the pod container needs to be emptied by weight not count. My last machine (Gaggia) went by count, so even after I emptied it before I started to make a latte, it would stop in the middle and make me empty it again. This makes perfect coffee and lattes. I would definitely buy again!!