I have been reading and reading, and speaking to people, and I am no closer to deciding on a machine that I was when I started.
I am moving up from a Sunbeam EM3800, which has served me very well. I drink lattes (4 a day), as do most of my visitors.
As far as I can see, the Rancilio will last me for years and make beautiful coffee as long as I treat it nicely and let it warm up properly. This is the only thing stopping me jumping straight in and getting one - I have 5 children so do a lot of running around, and like to walk into the house and switch the machine on and make a coffee in the next 5 minutes! (For safety reasons, I dont like leaving machines that heat stuff switched on when Im out, so I couldnt just leave it on all day.) I also have lots of drop-in visitors who have 5 mins for a quick coffee, which my Sunbeam manages well at the moment.
Ive read various threads on here, and reviews at a consumer review site, and it seems that opinion varies whether you can get a reasonable coffee from the Rancilio after 10 minutes, 30 mins, 60 mins of heating.
I suppose at this stage Im leaning towards the Sunbeam for the instant satisfaction factor. But Im very open to having my mind changed about the Rancilio. I would love to have a clear winner in my mind, but it seems both of them have different good points in terms of what would suit me, so I cant compare them!!!
Of course, if there is another machine that would blow those two out of the water, in a similar price range, I am happy to hear about that too!
I am moving up from a Sunbeam EM3800, which has served me very well. I drink lattes (4 a day), as do most of my visitors.
As far as I can see, the Rancilio will last me for years and make beautiful coffee as long as I treat it nicely and let it warm up properly. This is the only thing stopping me jumping straight in and getting one - I have 5 children so do a lot of running around, and like to walk into the house and switch the machine on and make a coffee in the next 5 minutes! (For safety reasons, I dont like leaving machines that heat stuff switched on when Im out, so I couldnt just leave it on all day.) I also have lots of drop-in visitors who have 5 mins for a quick coffee, which my Sunbeam manages well at the moment.
Ive read various threads on here, and reviews at a consumer review site, and it seems that opinion varies whether you can get a reasonable coffee from the Rancilio after 10 minutes, 30 mins, 60 mins of heating.
I suppose at this stage Im leaning towards the Sunbeam for the instant satisfaction factor. But Im very open to having my mind changed about the Rancilio. I would love to have a clear winner in my mind, but it seems both of them have different good points in terms of what would suit me, so I cant compare them!!!
Of course, if there is another machine that would blow those two out of the water, in a similar price range, I am happy to hear about that too!


If you are not at home or if you dont want coffee again for a few hours, turn it OFF.
Let me suggest kindly that you are NOT making good coffee :
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