Mr. Coffee BVMC-ZH1 Power Serve 12-Cup Coffeemaker

Coffee is one of my four main food groups, so I am always pleased to try a new twist on coffee brewing. The Mr. Coffee Power Serve is a carafe-less coffee brewing system with a convenient, delayed brewing feature, a pause and serve feature, and cup-at-a-time dispensing.

You notice immediately upon unpacking that there is no carafe! The coffee is brewed directly into a reservoir, and you dispense your coffee directly into your cup or mug by pressing it against a pedal in the front. You can brew up to 12 cups at a time, and it takes 10 minutes to brew a full 12 cups.

The reservoir is designed to be used as a pitcher from which to pour the fresh water, but since it is a square shape, I found it to be a little awkward. I use a water pitcher instead. One very nice feature is that there are clearly marked "steps" in the back of the machine where you pour the water that makes it easy to add exactly the right amount. This is a big improvement over the hard-to-read marks on the side of most brewers.

There is a digital clock on the front that allows you to prepare your coffee maker before you go to bed, set a morning brew time, and wake up to freshly brewed coffee. Additionally, there is a brew now button, which lights up while the coffee is brewing. A loud beep that signals when the brewing cycle is done. On the front and on both sides of this coffee maker, there are clear panels which let you see how much coffee is left in the reservoir.

The brewing basket comes out easily for cleaning and for adding your filter and coffee. It uses round, basket-type filters rather than the cone shaped ones, but sadly there are none included in the box so be sure and buy some if you order this Mr. Coffee.

The dispenser is motorized so your cup is quickly filled when you press your mug to the pedal. You can also dispense a cup of coffee before the brewing cycle is done for those days when you just can't wait. There is a small, detachable drip plate on the bottom of the machine so if you spill a little, it doesn't end up dripping under your coffee maker.

The coffee reservoir sits atop a warming plate, which is supposed to keep the coffee at optimum serving temperature after brewing. I personally don't like my coffee to stay on a warming plate since I think it takes on a bitter taste, so I push the brewing button again when the brewing cycle is finished and that turns off the warming plate.

One negative for me is that the coffee reservoir is black and smoke colored plastic. Since that is where the coffee sits, it needs to be cleaned regularly just like a coffee carafe. However, it is not as easily done because of the square shape, and the dark color makes it hard to see if it's clean. I found a soft bristled brush that seems to work OK for this, but it's not as easy as cleaning a glass carafe.

The coffee is good. It seems to bring the water up to correct brewing temperature, so you end up with a nice cup of drip-brewed coffee.

I think that for people who have trouble with breaking their coffee carafes, or perhaps for people who have active young children, this is a novel take on a drip coffee maker.

This coffeemaker was bought to replace another carafe-less coffeemaker from 'Cuisinart', which gave up the ghost. Coffee, is a must in our family 1x/day-weekdays and 2x/day-weekends, not counting friends visiting or family coming over.

In the past I have had 3+ Mr. Coffee units and been fairly well pleased so I thought this one would be a decent unit. Boy was I surprised.

The Good:

1) I liked the speed at which it brewed very nice and fast

2) The layout of controls is simple and uncomplicated

3) The coffee tasted as it should no odd tastes that we could determine

4) The water fill area is nicely wide compared to others that I have used

5) The ease of cleaning IMO

The Bad:

1A) Purchase Date: 7/13/2011

1B) Date of First use: 7/14/2011

1C) Stopped working date: 8/21/2011

1D) Length of product life: 5 & 1/2 weeks (39 days total)[TOTALLY unacceptable]

2) The inability of setting the length of time for the auto shutoff my Cuisinart had a 2/3/4 hour setting choice before it shutoff

3) As some have indicated sputtering/spitting when getting the last amount of coffee

4) The inability to easily determine how much coffee is left in the reservoir

5) The stiffness of the dispensing lever arm It would push to unit backwards and away from me, so I usually had to hold on to the top when dispensing.

6) The stiffness of the top cover lid, as it would not stay up & open when trying to fill the unit; it kept swinging shut so I would hold it with my hand..

This is not a product I can recommend. I will be contacting Mr. Coffee and see how well their customer service is, but the product still does not impress me.

If your particular unit performs well and is still working, then I am glad for you and hope it lasts. As for me and the others who have had issues, I hope we can find a unit that keeps working for at least a couple of years.

Clifford Phillips

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The coffee maker that I received made coffee but the dispenser did not work. I contacted Mr Coffee's customer service and they sent me a new machine without any hassles. I always appreciate a company with good customer service. The new machine works well.

This coffee maker is rather bulky. It takes up about the same amount of counter space as my old coffee maker: Cuisinart 12-Cup Brew Central Coffeemaker, but the Mr Coffee is larger on top and this adds a lot of bulk. The other thing I don't like about this coffee maker is that the reservoir is plastic. If you drink the coffee right away it's not a big problem, but if you let the coffee sit for a while it tends to get a plastic flavor. I prefer coffee makers with glass carafes.

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With my first purchase the tiny spring fell out of the brew basket and wouldn't go back in. Customer service said once this happens, the brew basket is useless. They couldn't replace the brew basket by itself, so they sent me an entirely new coffee maker. No complaints on customer service, but the spring part of the brew basket is so fragile I knew I would have another problem with it, so I was sad to find out that this expensive coffee maker would be a temporary item for sure. The new one came right away too, so that was nice.

Fast forward to this morning (after delicately washing my new brew basket by hand) and now the water reservoir will not suck water. The machine was puffing smoke and shaking like it might explode. I took the plastic pipe out and it's not clogged so that means there is something wrong with the base unit. My husband tossed the first base out in the garbage from his garage so I couldn't mail it back to Sunbeam and now I can't salvage it for parts.

7 months of use for $70. Not a total loss, but still not worth the money or grief. The two stars are for a reasonably tasting cup of coffee and good customer service. The product itself is flimsy.

*** Update: They're sending me a second replacement with no hassle. I didn't expect that. The coffee maker is still lame for breaking down constantly, but if it's replaced each time without red tape I guess I can't complain that much.

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Have had this product for about a month now and it's a really nice coffeemaker. Easy to use, coffee tastes great and unlike my previous Brewstation coffeemaker this one doesn't give me the worry of the coffee running all over the counter. There is no little filter inside the water/coffee basket to dislodge to allow the overflow. Much larger area to pour the water into the coffeemaker as well so less chance for spilling when pouring the water in.

Another great feature is that the coffeemaker beeps 3 times to signal when coffee is done brewing but you can also get coffee from it while brewing. It has a 2 hr auto shutoff for safety and will beep 3 times also to let you know it's shutting off. Brew time is relatively quick so is a plus for this coffeemaker. It also has a clock/timer that you can program to brew coffee so it's ready when you get up in the morning.

Only downside I can see so far is that in order to get your coffee from the coffeemaker it must be plugged it. It has a pump that pumps the coffee up and out from the inside as opposed to gravity with the Brewstation so if your electric goes out after brewing your coffee, you would have to pull the canister holding the container physically out and try to pour a cup of coffee from it in order to get any coffee.

UPDATE 5/13/11: Plugged in the coffeemaker this morning and turned it on. While it brewed I went to take care of my daughter in the other room. Came back to find a HUGE mess..Coffee all over my wood laminate kitchen floor!! Ugghh. The coffeemaker had been making occasional 'weird' noised the past week or so and now today this mess. Am calling the manufacturer as soon as they are open to let them know how upset I am over this. It was purchased 3/25/11 and it's only 5/13/11 so definately not made well to hold up. I brew 1 to 2 pots per day so I give coffeemakers a run for their money for sure but no way should this product give out so soon. Luckily I still have my receipt for it so hope I get reimbursed for it. Need to add I made sure the bottom was seated in the coffeemaker properly and the 'arm' for water to go into coffee grounds was over the coffeefilter as well. Everything in place so it was not any fault on my end..just defective on coffeemaker's end.

Will be going today to get a replacement..back to the good ol' brewstation for me I guess unless I can find a good deal on a professional coffeemaker of course. Steer clear of this Mr Coffeemaker for sure!

Lavazza Espresso Point Matinee

Received this machine as a gift and absolutely love it. It makes excellent shots of espresso in very short times. It is very well built and heavily constructed. I would highly recommend this unit to everyone that loves espresso.

Using this machine to make ~10 espresso's a day. Quality of Espresso is great. However, both machines died within less than a year due to water leaking out of what appears to be the grouphead.

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Bought this and a Brita filter carafe for the water. Installed it (plugged it in) at the office. The younger associates love it. You do need to read the instructions before using it.

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This machine is great for the office we all love it. We have it in our Conference room for easy access.

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Lavazza Point Ep850 Aroma Point Espresso Machine

I bought this machine for lattes at my office. I got a cartridge system because I thought it would be cleaner than grinding beans & disposing of the puck. I needed a machine that takes little space, and I wanted to drink Lavazza since that's what I use at home. The cost was also a reason for selecting the 850; I didn't want to spend a lot for it.

I thought I got a defective 850 the first time I used it because the steam wand didn't produce steam long enough to heat the milk past 60 degrees. I contacted the Amazon seller but got no response. The manual that comes with the 850 wasn't helpful. I buy my Lavazza beans & cartridges from AromaCafeCulture.com & called them for help; they were out of stock for the 850 which is why I bought it at Amazon. They helped me get the 850 to work even tho I had not purchased it from them.

When you use the 850, you need to press the "on" button on the far left; it stays red to show the 850 is turned on. The middle button is the shot button & it lights up when it is ready. (You press & release the middle button. The 850 pushes water thru the cartridge until you press the button again. I use a Rattlewear shot pitcher to measure the espresso.) The button on the right is the steam button. To get steam, you press this button continuously until it lights. You then rotate a knob on the right of the machine to activate the steam wand BUT you need to press the lighted steam button the entire time you want to use the steam wand. If you don't keep your finger on that button, you'll get 45 seconds of steam. If you keep your finger on the button, the steam continues until you get the milk to 150 degrees & nice froth. The 850 will produce enough steam to heat & froth milk, but it takes longer than a machine at a coffee shop. Also, the amount of steam produced will vary while you steam & the light may turn off while you steam, but the 850 still steams while the light is off. Yes, it does not steam like Starbucks, but I also didn't spend $4000 on a machine either.

I can't judge the reliability of the 850 since I've had it for 2 weeks. It will pay for itself in 4 months.

I make vente lattes, so I use two cartridges for a serving. I get 2 oz of espresso per cartridge and steam 3/4 C of milk; this fills my Starbucks aluminum mug. Net cost is 20 cents with 8.8 cents for the cartridges. Not bad when compared to the coffee shops & they don't use Lavazza beans, so I'm also getting better tasting lattes while saving money.

I had the good fortune to be in the paddock at a couple of Formula 1 races. I spent a lot of time around the Ferrari garage and that was the first time I saw a Lavazza espresso maker. I was fascinated by how fast and easily the mechanics and others on the team could pull a shot. They chugged the dark brew in one or two sips and were immediately back to work The machine they were using was the pro model (I think it's over a grand!) so getting one was out of the question. Then I discovered this one it uses the same high quality coffee pods but that's just about where the similarity ends.

The not so good news First, the pro model has a lot more features, the most important being that it shuts the flow of coffee down automatically, guaranteeing a more precise shot. Alas, blessed by a Champagne taste but living with beer budget, this unit was all I could afford.

The good news The unit is beautiful ( it is, after all, Italian) and it's not really difficult to use. Make sure you turn the thing on well in advance of your need for Java. It takes a bit of time to warm up. After the green "ready" light comes on, you unfasten the pod holder and insert your favorite capsule (pretty simple). Then you press the green button, watching carefully to make sure you don't over fill your espresso cup. (Too much water and you get what the Italians call "dish water".

When it's reached the level you want, you press the button to stop the flow. The smell, by the way, is wonderful. If you want some frothed milk, you have to press the third button (NOT THE THIRD BUTTON!) until it lights up. Bring a container with cold milk over by the wand (on the right) and twist the knob behind it.

Why only 4 stars I really like this unit and given the price, I think it represents good value. However, there a few little things that annoy me. The steam wand shoots out water when you first use it so you have to remember to clear the pipes into a container before frothing anything. Also, the instructions are pretty rudimentary. They never really tell you how much coffee you should be "pulling" I have been estimating but as an ex chemistry teacher, I would love to have better specs. Finally, unless you use Lavazza espresso paper cups (yes, they sell them), pulling a shot into a room temp espresso cup will result in a luke warm cup of coffee. You need to heat up the cup (use the steam wand or dunk the cups in hot water). Also, if you want to add a dribble of milk, the small shot will get pretty cold best to warm the milk first is my suggestion.

Not a rave and not a rant a decent machine that fits my 4 or 5 espresso a week habit.

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Just received this machine on 12-31-10. I know it has only been 2 days of using it but i love it. It pulls a good shot of espresso. It may not be great,but it is good. I had a Gaggia classic many years ago. That pulled a great shot if you did everything right. I'm getting lazy in my old age and want an easier way to make my espresso. i have always loved Lavazza ground espresso coffee. I even use it in my Bunn coffee maker. I almost went with the Nespresso D90,but i am happy i went with this instead,partly because i know that i will get great coffee from Lavazza. Oh yeah it also looks great on my countertop!

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The cost of this machine is good compared to some of the other Lavazza machines.Still creates a quality shot of espresso, but the only disappointment is everything is so manual. great shot though!!

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