UPDATE at the end.My machine arrived yesterday evening. I read all of the directions, watched the DVD, read the directions again, and then followed the directions while actually making a latte. To get right to the point, I was able to make a passable latte right off the bat, which I wasn't expecting. The flavor was wonderful--reminiscent of the lattes I get from independent coffee shops--not as sweet as Starbucks. (I love Starbucks, but with less sweetness, the flavor of the espresso stands out more.) My first latte was not perfect, but it was drinkable. I made some mistakes, but in my defense, the machine arrived a day earlier than expected and late in the day, and I just wanted to play with it right away.I gave this machine four stars because I don't like how the frothing wand is designed. I think all the similar machines that I researched are the same, but I wish it were up higher and would pull away from the machine more to make it easier to use. When I use it for hot water, I can only put about 4 ounces of water in the cup, because I have to tilt the cup to get it out from under the wand. It takes two or three times to fill up a cup for tea, and I have to use two cups instead of just filling up my tea cup. I also wish I could fit a taller cup under the machine or the espresso to flow into. For now I'm using the shot glass, but later on, I'd like to have the espresso flow directly into the cup I'll be using, but I'll never be able to do that since all my cups are too large (and I'll likely only ever be making lattes, so want to use a larger cup).When I began researching espresso machines, I had no idea how an espresso was made or anything about the process or what was used. I didn't even know if they used different beans or coffee blends or a different grind. I didn't know the process was different from regular coffee. I'm not a regular coffee drinker, so have made regular coffee only infrequently, and am somewhat new to espresso drinks. I've been buying them at Starbucks for a few years, but never paid attention to how they were made. When I was first buying soy lattes, I had no idea they were made with espresso and not regular coffee (and wouldn't have known the difference anyway).I really agonized over whether to buy an espresso machine or not and then which one to buy. I finally narrowed it down to two DeLonghi machines: the UPDATE June 24, 2010I am not sure about this product even though it makes a good cup of coffee. I notice a small puddle of water underneath it everyday on my counter top! It collects on the grout between my tiles, which is not good. The puddle appears to come from a leak.-------After using Cuisinart EM-100 for a month I can say that it can make delicious coffee comparable to that bought in a coffee shop. I continue to be happy with the purchase, after using the espresso maker and getting to know it well.* Ease of useThe espresso maker has many nice and useful touches. It is simple and fool proof to operate, which helps when making coffee when one is not fully awake. The controls allow one to continue or to stop pouring coffee, water, or steam when one wants to. A regular 8 ounce cup fits easily under the portafilter. Other nice touches are that the water tank can easily be removed or put back, and the drip tray can be slipped out easily and washed off. The length of the steam/hot water nozzle is suited to the frothing pitcher included in the purchase and is not really a problem in my experience. The espresso maker is fairly quiet.It makes hot water and steam in an amazingly short time. I'd say in less than a minute; perhaps the solid 1000W specification has something to do with the internal boiler.* Preparation and clean upThe preparation process for making espresso is very short: just pour water in the tank if there isn't enough left over from before, fill a clean portafilter with ground coffee and attach it in place, wait about a minute, turn the dial for coffee, and it pours out into the cup, presto!Clean up is simple: the screen above the portafilter, the steamer nozzle and the portafilter need to be cleaned, all of which are easy to do.* Coffee grind and cloggingAll that is needed to make good coffee with the coffee maker, is to use the right grind of coffee, since everything else has been made simple to do. Some suggest that a burr grinder is required to grind the beans for superior coffee. It takes a short learning process to find the correct fineness of grind to make good coffee. I found that the finer the grind the tastier the coffee. A word of caution, as with any espresso maker, too fine a grind (Turkish grind, but not Espresso grind) will clog the basket for the portafilter and coffee will not pour out. I have now learned how fine to grind my coffee so that particles do not get through the holes of the strainer in the basket and get trapped inside its double wall.When it is clogged, the pressure created by the pump can make it hard to remove the portafilter, but it must be removed in order to take steps to unclog it. This issue would be the same with any espresso maker. Instructions and a pin are sensibly provided. I was able to unclog the basket for the portafilter with the pin, so that one can make a mistake and recover from it.It has not been my experience, as a couple of other reviewers have claimed, that you cannot tell when the pressure is more than usual, and coffee explodes as you remove the portafilter. If the portafilter is not clogged, it requires little effort to remove it, and there is no explosion or mess involved. However, if it is clogged, you will find from the outset that you need to use much more force, enough to tell the difference, due to the pressure created by the clog. When I removed a badly clogged portafilter, the coffee grounds stayed in the portafilter, and there was no mess to clean up. The high pressure that is naturally developed due to clogging makes it a problem to remove the portafilter. I once turned the machine off and waited for 15 minutes, and still found that the pressure was high. I haven't tried this, but if the water from the tank is emptied by passing it through the nozzle for example using the hot water setting, perhaps the pressure in the portafilter could be reduced enough to make it easier to remove a clogged portafilter.* Tips on using hot water and steam for a hot cup of coffeeIf one uses a cold cup and cold cream directly from the refrigerator, one's espresso will naturally not be as hot as one might want.I use the hot water to heat up the cup first of all. I leave the hot water in to warm up the cup, until after I steam up the milk to heat it. I then move the dial to making espresso and proceed to pouring the coffee. Doing things in this order, heats up the boiler more and gets the water hotter.A good froth can be made with steam, with the normal amount of noise caused by bubbling steam through cream, otherwise the unit if fairly quiet. I use the steam more to heat up the cream which is cold from the refrigerator, than for making a froth.* Making more than one cup at a timeFor making several cups of espresso in a row, the portafilter can be safely and easily removed as soon as one is made, so that you can go on to making the next one, and so on. The water tank is large enough for making several cups. The protafilter is naturally hot for a while after making a cup of coffee, so be aware of it while handling.As a prior barista I was skeptical that this would make good coffee but after moving to Texas where there are no coffee shops besides Starbucks, I decided to give it a try. This was the highest quality in my price range right now (I’d love a pro machine but who has $2,000 to spend on an espresso machine?!) I only gave it 4 stars because the water tank doesn’t hold much water if you are wanting to make multiple drinks with steam and hot water. It’s easy to use though and the shots actually came out pretty darn good with good crema. 2 important things to consider for a good tasting shot is the type of coffee beans and using a good grinder to grind fresh beans each time. You don’t have to do that but it does make a difference. The conical bur grinders are best and I got one that you can adjust the grind manually (again, you don’t have to do this but I prefer to). I used an espresso blend whole bean with it. Light roast coffee isn’t going to give you the flavor you want from espresso. I’m writing this review on day 1 so I’m hoping the machine holds up for a while. If not I will update. So far I’m very happy with it though.The design and function are similar to hundreds of machines on the market in its price category. It works fine, but the espresso taste isn't there due to water temperature. Water hits the beans at 71.2 degrees C -- about 20 degrees C cooler than optimal. To the best of my present knowledge there is no adjustment for water temperature. Cannot recommend.Italian family; we have used this machine for over 10/12 years; we have replaced 2 but realized afterwards with a little CLR the machine works again ,mind you we make 20 + espresso a day 7 times a week , wonderful machine that I have 4 in my basement brand new since it was discontinued in Canada .. if your machine isn’t making creamy coffee . Change your beansNot exactly a top of of the line espresso machine, however, for someone just starting to learn to make espresso, or a casual user, it’s fine. There are a few things lacking with this machine: no auto shut off??? The shortest steam wand I’ve ever seen??? But, overall, it’ll do the trick, at least until you decide to upgrade to a more professional unit.miren esta cafetera hace muy buen cafe es facil de limpiar y no es cara tambien con un solo boton me da dos cafes o uno en automatico antes era cuisinart ahora es breville y mejoro muchisimo bien ustedes lo pidieron esta cafetera esta hecha para solo durar un mes si bien te va pero con ingenio se puede corregir, para los que la compran si no estan dispuestos a abrirla e investigarla mejor ni se metan cuesta trabajo yo ya le se y es tipico ejemplo de obsolescencia programadaI bought one of these used and thought it was great. After a year it died. I like it so much I bought a new one on Amazon. The new one is SO much better than the original one.I get a perfect crema every time. It has great pressure so frothing milk is super simple (my old one took a lot of effort and was rarely right)I have not used competitive home espresso machines so I can't compare, but I can say that this one is great.The one con I can think of is it is quite loud when first turned on. The pump or heater kicking in is loud. This was the same on my old one too.