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How important is superficial aspects to your purchasing espresso related equipment?

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  • How important is superficial aspects to your purchasing espresso related equipment?

    I have noticed here that some members have strong preferences to certain colours of equipment and / or are prepared to pay considerable amounts to modify gear (eg wood trim).

    Niche grinders with their white or black options is one case in point.

    Personally I don't care much though I am concerned a lot about functionality as well as reliability. But then some call me a bit of a dag.

  • #2
    I'm in the same boat, with a preference for function over form. This could be attributed to my background as an engineer, although I do have an appreciation of aesthetics. Ultimately I blame two of my housemates (aged 6 and 1) who do not allow us to have nice things.

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    • #3
      I love great aesthetics and it is of course possible to achieve both form and function, but if I have to choose, function will trump form every time. People can call me what they will. I don't care!

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      • #4
        Good question. Have to admit I've been a fool for pretty shinies at times, but experience is a pretty good teacher. Good luck to anyone with their personal preferences I say.
        Nowadays I value function more than form....the Niche is a very good case in point, as the aesthetics are, shall we say, polarising........
        However, in function its an industry changer and I wanted one as soon as I fully got what it was offering.
        The old guard manufacturers have been caught with trousers well and truly down and are still scrambling to catch up, with half-assed offerings in the main (not talking about specialists like Option O etc)
        In some ways, I'm not fully at ease with an object until its showing a bit of, err...use. (LOL!)

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Ted2013 View Post
          I have noticed here that some members have strong preferences to certain colours of equipment and / or are prepared to pay considerable amounts to modify gear (eg wood trim).

          Niche grinders with their white or black options is one case in point.

          Personally I don't care much though I am concerned a lot about functionality as well as reliability. But then some call me a bit of a dag.

          I'm certainly favour function over form. However, the Niche Black would look ridiculous in my kitchen and, in particular, next to my Cremina which has white side panels. Hence I bought the Niche White. More generally, I'd buy what I perceive as a 'better' machine over one that doesn't suit my purposes but is a little prettier.....as long as the 'better' machine doesn't look completely awful (as proof of my tolerance...I do own a Quickmille Achille which is one of the ugliest machines around).

          Comment


          • 338
            338 commented
            Editing a comment
            Break the design rules Barry, 'the Niche Black would look ridiculous in my kitchen and, in particular, next to my Cremina which has white side panels' - I think that is why Paul McCartney wrote Ebony and Ivory, to get us all a little more comfortable with diversity in our kitchens

          • Barry O'Speedwagon
            Barry O'Speedwagon commented
            Editing a comment
            The bench is black stone, so I might struggle to see a black grinder We have stainless steel, blue and white appliances (and yeh the fry pans are black I guess).

        • #6
          I swing both ways.
          I am waiting on a Bianca at the moment but the timber trim is its least attractive component for me.
          I love everything about the De1 except the fact that it looks like tupperware made by Ikea.
          I believe that beauty and functionality are both attainable and great designers can and do achieve this.
          The problem is designers make it beautiful, engineers make it work and accountants come in and screw the final product up.

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          • Ted2013
            Ted2013 commented
            Editing a comment
            amberale, I found your comment on the DE1 interesting. Its looks don't worry me much but its internals do. For example I like the copper pipes on the commercial and most prosumer machines much more than the silicone tubes on the DE1 (and most consumer machines) because they are much more durable. I also understand their thermoblocks may be more durable than on the Sunbeams for example but an element failure means the replacement of the whole specialized component whereas the replacement of a heating element in the commercial/ prosumer unit is much less problematical especially long down the track.

          • amberale
            amberale commented
            Editing a comment
            Hi Ted.
            I understand where you are coming from but have fewer concerns.
            The silicon tubes on my 20yo Gaggia appear to be as good as new and it is easier to keep a meter of hose than a collection of copper parts.( I am on a farm out of town so I tend to buy spares in advance).
            I am actually considering buying a spare brain for the Bianca to put away for possible future use.
            Everything else seems to be generic parts.
            While a failure of the thermo-block in the DE would require replacement of the entire component the design itself has eliminated the whole boiler that the heating element was required for.
            WRT Decent I am continually gobsmacked by the level of customer support and information provided.
            I have an aviation background and have far greater concerns about plastic airliners controlled by fly-by-wire systems than espresso machine breakthroughs.

        • #7
          There's some irony to the original question, this site is dedicated to aesthetics in taste, specially the taste of coffee. But an apprecial for visual aesthetics is superficial?

          Personally, my approach is a bit different to what was suggested- I won't pay the extra or go out of my way to buy something on looks, but if something is just dead set tacky or ugly, I won't consider it no matter how great the functionality is. Just bought a hand grinder, and one of the colour options was bright anodised red. Even if it was half price, I wouldn't have bought it.

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          • wirecutter23
            wirecutter23 commented
            Editing a comment
            Well put. My coffee drinking is almost exclusively form over function!

          • 338
            338 commented
            Editing a comment
            Wimbledon, I take it you don't advise Ferrari on tasteful colours? Rosso Corsa is still the most popular colour by a long margin, though some could consider it tacky. I think it depends on context, a red grinder in a totally white kitchen just looks like a statement piece.

          • Ted2013
            Ted2013 commented
            Editing a comment
            I am a bit the other way. If a machine works well and reliably for me over time its possibly ugly looks start to look more attractive and I am more likely to grow fond of it.

        • #8
          When I mentioned this to the brains of my outfit her comment was “Obviously someone who has never worn stilettos”.

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          • #9
            I am almost always function over form and with coffee it is bang for buck for me number one. But having said that I am a softie for the E61 grouphead and beautiful machines built around it. Having formed a decent bond with the Rocket Giotto at home with the sides which have no function I am finding it hard to move away from Rocket when pondering an upgrade, although their latest R58 is uglier than the earlier models (and prob lacks a few features found in the other dual boiler PID machines) there is something in the character of the Rocket machines I am drawn to.

            I think there have been a few other threads about tactile stuff as well, I have OCD tools and a Pullman tamper partly because I like how they look but more because I like how they feel. When you use them daily or a few times a week the tactile feel of the tools and a heavy group handle is part of the pleasure of making coffee.

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            • Ted2013
              Ted2013 commented
              Editing a comment
              In spite of my dag attitude to asthetics I can see where you are coming from here. I really like the look of some of those fancier Italian SS machines and would probably pay a bit more for one over a plainer one provided the performance and reliability stacked up. Also I do like the tactile feel of a well balanced wood handled tamper.

          • #10
            338 I'm in a city with one of the highest concentrations of fancy cars in the world. Lots of Ferarris, usually red or yellow. But the best car I have seen recently was this one, a couple months back.



            Click image for larger version  Name:	X4J7afb.jpg Views:	0 Size:	258.7 ** ID:	852036
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            • prh
              prh commented
              Editing a comment
              I've seen a similarly themed Maserati in my area. "De gustibus non est disputandum"

            • 338
              338 commented
              Editing a comment
              Must say I like the uniqueness of it, though would probably prefer a different theme.
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