PROS:Makes good coffeeEquivalent to drip coffee or Keurig cups in my opinionLess post consumer wasteConvenientEasy to useEasy to cleanFast and simpleCONS:Not the best method to brew bold coffee/'artisan' coffee (but then again, for me neither is Keurig)Unlike the Keurig you will need a minimal kitchen environment (water supply/sink, trash can) to useOnly two levels possible using the cup rest which may not be convenient for all sizes of cups and mugsSimilar footprint to a drip coffee maker--this will not save you much counter space compared to an 8 to 12 cup, standard drip coffee makerOVERVIEWI don't want to reinvent the wheel here, but there are a lot of reviews on the Hamilton Beach 49981 Single Serve Scoop Coffee Maker out there and a lot of diverse opinions on how it works. I will try to tease out the important aspects of the product to help you make your decision.In my opinion, this coffee maker is equivalent to a standard Keurig brewer but will allow you to use your own ground coffee in a simple and convenient way. You can use reusable Keurig cups and use your own ground coffee inside a standard Keurig brewer, but this is a somewhat more clunky way to brew your coffee. The refillable K-cups have to fit inside the Keurig brewer so they are more challenging to fill. There is less room inside the refillable K-cups so often the coffee will be weak. Moreover, the Scoop Coffee Maker coffee makes the whole process of using your own coffee beans easier.INSIDE THE BOXInside the box you will find the Hamilton Beach unit itself. It comes with two Scoop Brew Baskets, an instruction manual, and a quick guide. The unit is mostly plastic, but clad in a lot of stainless steel and handsomely constructed. It feels like a real kitchen appliance, not a cheap coffee maker. The base is about 6 3/4 inches wide and 7 3/4 inches deep. The unit stands 12 3/4 inches high, but you will need about 17 1/4 inches of clearance to fully open the device. Standard clearance between your kitchen counter and cabinet is about 18 inches, so this should work well in most kitchens. The coffee maker isn't majorly huge compared to other coffee makers but this one cup at a time coffee maker is not going to save much counter space compared to a standard 8 to 12 cup, drip coffee maker.The unit has an integral drip tray that has only two positions. The lower position is good for a 7 inch travel mug. If you invert it, you can raise the platform to accommodate cups that are 4 1/4 inches or shorter. The problem, of course, are mugs or cups that are in between these heights. If there is too much of a gap between your cup and the drip spout, you will get splashing and it will make a mess. It would have been nice if Hamilton Beach could have had a platform with three or four positions instead of just two.The top of the unit can be opened to reveal the 'shower head' where the hot water is released on top of the grounds. The Scoop Brew basket can be inserted in and out of this space. Below this is a filter holder with a finer, secondary filter to catch any coffee grounds that escaped the Scoop Brew Basket. This fits easily into the filter well below. The system generally works well. If the coffee is ground correctly, you do not have to clean the filter holder more than once every four or five cups of coffee. Some people place filter paper (or an Aeropress filter) on the bottom of the Scoop Brew Basket in order to avoid any finer grounds from escaping.MAKING COFFEEBasically, you scoop your coffee into the Scoop Brew Basket. I suppose you could use the Scoop Brew Basket itself to scoop up the coffee, but if it is moist, this will pick up grounds on the bottom of the basket. I use a separate scoop. There are marks on the Brew Basket for an 8 ounce cup and 14 ounce cup. You can use these as guidelines, but from my point of view these are suggestions only.You open the top of the brewer, place the Scoop Brew Basket in place and shut the top. Take your coffee cup of choice, fill your cup up to the desired height (the brewer will hold up to 14 ounces of water), and then pour the water into the back of the brewer. You then place the cup on the cup rest (at either the low or high height) and press the brew button. There are two ways to brew, regular and bold. Ostensibly, the bold setting drips the coffee more slowly and is supposed to work better for more finely ground coffee or artisan type coffees. The slower drip is supposed to yield a bolder cup of coffee, but the differences in reality are quite subtle.Once done brewing, you lift the top, remove the scoop, empty the scoop in the garbage, and rinse the remaining grounds off in the sink. There's a nice, long handle on the scoop so heat is not an issue.TASTESome reviewers complained of a plasticky taste to the coffee that wouldn't go away. In my experience, I didn't notice this. I did rinse the devise by putting it through two cycles before using it.The taste and strength of the coffee is similar to that of a standard, classic Keurig brew. If I really want to drink a great cup of joe, I will take the time to use a French press, do a formal gravity brew, or use an Aeropress. The slower methods soak the grounds more completely and extract more flavor from the beans. That said, even regular drip coffee with a good machine allows you to play more with the ratio of beans to coffee and is probably an overall more consistent and better brew. But the slower method require boiling water separately, take longer to brew a cup of coffee, require boiling water separately, and (with the exception of gravity brewing) you have to fiddle with more parts and clean up takes longer. Drip coffee takes more time to set up and more time to clean up.The overall taste using with the Scoop Coffee Maker depends on the type of coffee you use, the grind (the Scoop Brew Basket will accept very finely ground coffee if you want to really pack in the boldness), and the total amount of coffee used. I have used a number of Keurig machines--I own a Mr. Coffee Keurig and have used a few different models at work. Keurig coffee is easy, simple, and beats the pants off of regular office coffee or most instant coffee. But it is expensive to buy the pods and there is a real problem with getting truly high boldness in the brew. Yes, you can use refillable Keurig cups but these are less convenient to use than the Scoop Brew Basket, as they are more difficult to fill.I would rate the coffee brewed in this maker to be similar to Keurig coffee. Once I settled on a brand of coffee, worked out the fineness of the grind, and figured out how much to use, I am able to brew consistently good coffee. I am very happy with this machine after over a month of use.I still like my Mr. Coffee Keurig machine, but I'd rather save on coffee, decrease my post consumer waste, this one is easier to fill with water, and the Scoop Brew Basket is less of a mess to fill with ground coffee than the reusable Keurig cup. Additionally, there is a lot more room for coffee grounds in the Scoop Brew Basket than there is in a reusable Keurig cup, so I am able to squeeze out a slightly bolder brew.PROBLEMS/DISADVANTAGESThat said, there are some significant disadvantages with this type of brewer.First and foremost, you need a consistent water supply and a place to wash the Scoop Brew Basket. You can pretty much place a Keurig brewer with a refillable reservoir anywhere. So long as you're reasonably close to running water or near a water cooler, you can refill the reservoir, pop in the K-cup, and get your coffee on the run. With the Scoop Single-Serve Coffee Maker you need access to a real sink. You have to dump the grounds and then rinse off the filter. Every 3-4 cups of coffee, you also should clean out the filter holder with the secondary filter. None of this takes much effort, but it does take running water.As above, this is not the best way to make truly bold coffee. The coffee quality is on par with Keurig coffee or pod systems, but isn't as fully flavorful or bold as the slower, more labor intensive methods (e.g. gravity brew, French Press, Aeropress, etc.)As above, the cup rest only has two positions. It would be better if there were three or four positions to prevent splashing.CONCLUSIONOn the whole, I am very satisfied with this coffee maker. The major decision for most people who intend to purchase this device is whether they should opt for this or a Keurig-type machine. The taste of the coffee is similar for both machines, although I was able to get a slightly bolder brew from this device. But both machines are trumped by coffee made by slower, more labor intensive methods.The Single Scoop Coffee Maker is a very convenient way to brew coffee one cup at at time with minimal post consumer waste and it is quick and efficient enough to make it a great brew-on-the-go option. It takes minimal time to put the coffee in the scoop, pour water in the coffee maker, and hit the on button. Rinsing off the scoop (even when you rinse off the secondary filter) does not take much time at all and you can leave it until you come home on the evening if you prefer. However, Keurig machines are still just a little slicker--with the self contained K-cup there is no preparation and clean up involves throwing K-cup in the trash. Additionally, for the Keurig, you don't need to have a sink nearby. So for an office where the machine isn't placed near a sink you could use bottled water or water from a water cooler without installing additional plumbing.This system is nearly as quick and convenient as pod systems or K-cups, I do enjoy the decrease in post consumer waste, and I am happy with the ease with which I can use my own kind of coffee. For now, it is my go-to machine for my on-the-run, AM coffee. Recommended.