Saeco HD8645/47 Vapore Automatic Espresso Machine, X-Small, Black

I have owned this for a month now and I would estimate that it has pulled about 100-200 shots for me. I was holding my breath at first, but now I'm pretty confident that this will be a good machine for me. I purchased this as a warehouse deal in very good condition (repackaged) and it seemed to be new.This machine is a really low cost way to enter into the world of superautomatic espresso machines. The removable brew group is great in terms of maintainability. It looks great on the counter. I have removed the panarello from the steam wand and I'm able to make nice small foam and steam milk quickly. The warm up time is very short.There is no turning back now that I've expreienced the joy of painless espresso production. I'm making a couple americanos a day and sometimes lattes for my wife. I have kids and the time savings of this machine makes espresso possible when I otherwise wouldn't have time (I had been drinking drip coffee after my youngest was born 7 months ago... Bleh). Manual espresso is fun if you have time to enjoy the process and toy with your methods. Superautomatics are great if you just want to enjoy a better than average cup of coffee.My day-to-day beans are the Costco house blend, which are about $5/lb and they are not too oily for this machine. This means my cost per cup of coffee is crazy low considering the quality (about $0.09 per shot if you're just considering the bean cost). Say what you will about the beans and machine I'm using... I'll just sit here and enjoy another great cup.Possible downfalls of this machine: Bean hopper / water reservoir / dregs box / drip tray are all fairly small. There is no bypass doser. It's a little noisy (no more than my old baratza grinder and pump machine, though). Cup height is limited. It can only pull a single shot at a time (limited by brew group capacity) but if you double click the button it will brew 2 in a row. I understood all of these limitations ahead of time and they do not bother me.Will update if I have any trouble, but so far I am in love.

This is my third automatic espresso machine. My first was a $700 Gaggia that bit the dust after a couple of years. The second was a more expensive ($1000+) but similar Saeco model that I bought used off a friend. It lasted several years. I've had this one several months, and so far it is proving to be very good for my needs, especially for the price. It is not that much smaller than the previous Saeco and lacks the warming tray on top (which I never used anyway) - the water reservoir & waste bin are smaller, which means I do have to fill/dump after about 6 shots (I only ever use the frother when I have company staying over). However, it does have a nice feature that keeps the beans from getting stuck, which my previous model did not have. For the price it performs well, makes excellent tasting espresso with good crema & decent/rapid heat, & requires minimal maintenance. Plus, it doesn't require special products to use it (other than lube & descaler -- other machines I considered required filters and water tablets). It rinses itself (so you do have to dump the drip tray about every other day) & requires manually rinsing the brew group once a week. I also like that the operation is simple - I don't have to RTFM to get my morning shots!

The coffee is great! The machine however, has major design defects and it is a continuous problem. I had read that the lights come on and interrupt the coffee process, but I did not realize it happened all the time. The spent coffee "drawer", if you can call it that, has a major design flaw because it does not "click" in, it is just pushed in, so that as you place your cup under the spout, it can is usually does open just enough to turn on the non function light. Then you have to take it out and put it back to brew a cup of coffee. This happens with the bean hopper as well. I have it full of beans, but the light comes on and I have to go through the precess of opening the spent grind drawer, then the water holder for the machine to work! The second problem is that I am trying to descale the machine for the second time and I cannot get it to work. I called Phillips and was told that the reason the descaling did not work was because the machine was turned on and should be turned off, but the manual never said that so I used up two bottles of descaler!I am a long time Saeco super automatica user and I have loved the machine, having bought two over the last 15 years. I wanted a third as mine finally wore out because we have such hard water, but they do not make them now. That was why I thought this x-small would be fine. But with a price tag of $400+ I would never suggest to a friend that they buy this machine. If I could, I would return it and buy a better quality machine for more money! I guess Saeco selling the business to Phillips is the difference, but it is unfortunate, because with some interest and care by Phillips, they could easily correct the design flaws!OK. I have now had this machine for 6 months and I wish I had returned it during the allowable time. Now I am stuck with it. It is really worse than I initially thought as I have constantly tried to deal with the design flaw in the used coffee grind holder and it just repeatedly shuts down because it does not lock shut! I had people staying in the hose for several weeks while away and they had to buy a coffee maker because they could not deal with the machine! I like others, spent $425 for this after having other Saeco Viennas but I missed the boat with this one. It is a terrible machine and Amazon should stop carrying it! I am going to try to get it replaced today!