Had this for a while now and it’s been brilliant. Grinds fresh beans every time and makes a really decent espresso.

Takes a bit of getting used to with the milk frothing but once you’ve done it a few times it’s easy enough. You can take the plastic bit off the steam wand and make proper microfoam if you fancy trying latte art. The machine’s quite compact too, doesn’t take up half the worktop.

Cleaning’s straightforward – most bits come out and go in the dishwasher. The waste container holds about 14 used pucks so you’re not emptying it every five minutes.

Only thing is you need to let it run a few shots when you first get it while it works itself out, but after that it’s solid. Makes two cups at once if you want. Well worth the money if you’re sick of instant or paying a fortune at coffee shops.

The Good:
To say coffee is perfect, is an understatement. Since this is my first bean-to-cup machine, I cannot say if it is thanks to this particular machine unfortunately. Nevertheless, instant and pre-ground just do not do it for me anymore. I like my coffee black, and its like discovering coffee taste all over again. I do not drink white coffee, but my mom who always drank instant, has been converted in just one day.
I can also say that, as long as I am concerned, it is as easy to use as it could be. Do not expect miracles, you have to empty drip tray, grounds container, refill water rather often, and clean milk froth each use. On top of that, you need to descale your machine from time to time. All of that is to be expected in any maker like this. So its not really easy like pouring some hot water over instant granules, but not rocket science neither. Removing and cleaning diffuser is also easy.
Consider to do some tinkering. I changed water temperature to maximum (Its not boiling hot, but enough for me) and ground setting to 3.5. Your experience may vary, but this is what I find most satisfactory.

The Bad:
Removing water tank, without removing the drip tray causes scratches on the metal plate. I think that is a design flaw. You could in theory keep removing drip tray every time you refill water, but water tends to run out more often that the drip tray needs to be emptied.
Also it appears that machine has no sensor in the grounds container, and it just keeps count of how many times grounds have been disposed. So if you do not empty container every time you remove the tray, you risk overfilling.

The Ugly:
Now the real problem. Machine has a descale light, that comes up every time it needs to be descaled. It asked to be descaled twice already, even though I had it for three weeks only. I am in the middle of my second 1kg coffee bag, and while I had not used De’longhi softener, I always poured Brita filtered water in the machine. I contacted the help line and it appears that machine has a water hardness setting, factory set to default level 4 (hardest).
Again, the maker has no sensor, and it just keeps track of how many litres of water has been used. That is not necessarily a bad thing, sensors tend to malfunction after some time. Keep in mind, that you need to use expensive De’Longhi Eco-Decalk, or you may lose warranty. Crazy thing is that water hardness setting can be changed, but the manual will not tell you that.
Even the nice lady I spoke with has been surprised that my manual does not mention it. She sent me another revision of the manual and voila, machine used to come with water hardness test and instructions how to change the setting. I changed the setting and the warning light (descale) is gone for now. Now I know how important it is to keep limescale off the equipment, but I refuse to spend £15 a month for descalers. Also it seems that the instructions to change water hardness setting has been removed on purpose to generate more income from after sales. I do not like to be tricked like that.

Verdict:
De’Longhi – you make the best home coffee makers, do not tarnish your brand with shady tactics.

Great product and not common in Canada. Fill it with water and beans, press the button and it makes you a fresh cup that tastes way better than any drip machine. Maintenance and operation is very easy. Instructions are helpful. Make sure vendor sells you a machine that can handle Canadian/USA 120 W vs Europe’s 220W. Just because you buy it on Amazon.ca doesn’t mean that this is the case. Check with vendor. I use this for an office with 15 employees and it works great. Grinder can be pulled out and replaced!

The machine lived up to my expectations . A month of use now and I am quite satisfied . Cleaning is easy and much faster with this wand style milk steamer as opposed to the Carafe models

A tip to reduce maintenance – keep a spare mug under the spouts while starting up and also while shutting down. This will collect the water used by the machine used for heating up and cleaning after you are done, instead of collecting in the drip tray below, significantly reducing the number of times you need to empty the drip tray.

Esta trabajando perfecto !!!