My DeLonghi retro died after two years and I thought I would buy something a little more robust. Oh my goodness, I am so glad I got this Hamilton Beach. It's twice as heavy and has a much, much more powerful pump and motor. I would say the heating coil and pump and motor are 4 times more powerful than the DeLonghi.

My DeLonghi took forever to heat up and 20 seconds to make a double shot. This Hamilton Beach heats up before I can load a double shot and about four seconds to make a double shot full of delicious CREMA. For newbies, crema is the foam that is very desirable in a shot or double shot of espresso. It is only possible with a pressure machine like Hamilton Beach. And the more pressure the better.

In further comparison to the DeLonghi, I must point out that my Retro could not handle any of the fine grind so it would just not work. I am going to have some beans custom ground extra fine for this Hamilton Beach. I'm sure this unit can handle the very finest grinds espresso.

The first one came to me damaged, it would not heat the coffee at all. The second one is okay though. It does not get the coffee as hot as I would like though. When brewed it is consistently at 150 degrees F. I prefer my coffee at 165 to 170. I am concerned about the heating element going bad on this one too. I have followed their instructions for getting a hotter cup of espresso and it makes no difference. And I do start with a preheated cup. It is good enough though, so I did not send the second one back. Did not want to deal with that hassle.

I am not a huge fan of the wand either. I am used to the traditional style wand (I knew about the wand going into it, and it does not affect my score of the machine). However, if you take off the auto frother you can control the air flow better, and with practice you can get something that resembles a latte cream. Out of the box it is great for a cappuccino for sure!!

Espresso brews in about 10 seconds each time. Easy to clean, and I love the locking mechanism. I feel like it will last the test of time, at least longer than the heating element in it. The lock is one of the main reasons I chose this model.

I bought this as a Christmas gift for my brother, i wasn't sure what to expect. I personally have an expensive Breville and wasn't sure how this would do. He loved it and is very pleased with it. I haven't personally used it yet but walked him through what to do. It exceeded his expectations and he called me saying hes loving it.

Been using this Espresso unit for over a week. After doing some searching for sub $100 units, this one was the fit my requirements, arrived on time in its unit box. I don't like a lot of things on my counter, but this maker fits nicely (think Keurig sized). Easy to assemble. Make sure you read the directions. The website has a video of a different model, but you should watch...it will help.

We bought the machine because of the price and the 15bar pressure for espresso. We use great beans and have a special bean grinder to make a fine grind. The resulting espresso is great! You have to manually brew your cup and turn off the flow by turning the switch from brew to stand-by. No problem. I use a Bodum, double-walled, double espresso cup for my brew. (To use a regular sized cup, you will have to take off the metal grate on the bottom to get some more height for the cup.) The resulting brew has a great, foamy head. Before I run my batch, I first run some hot water thru to warm the cup.....then brew. It has a double flow that fills the cup up quickly. The unit has a refillable water container on the back so you can have water to brew many cups. The time to heat up the water ready for a brew...is just seconds

Read page 9 in the manual...Tips and Techniques. Clean up is easy.

The steam wand works great! What a great flow of steam to heat/foam your milk! I purchased a 12 oz Star Coffee steel container to heat my milk. The unit comes with a plastic tamper, but I bought a metal one that fits better. So, consider adding some espresso cups, and the Star Coffee container.

Many have indicated how much money they have saved over coffee shop espressos. And, believe it or not, if you get some great, single origin, fresh roasted beans, you will have such a great espresso brew, it will not need sugar! (Not like the bitter brews from the well-known coffee shops!). The flavor is awesome and you won't go back to the shops!

Glad I got this unit.

Delicious. I am pretty picky about my coffee and very sensitive to taste difference. For example:
- I always drink black americano so I can tell the slight differences/improvement in the taste.
- I always keep my beans in vacuum sealed bags (got an electric vacuum device), fresh grind them right before brewing and discard the beans that are older than 2 weeks.

I have been using Aeropress which has served me well, but I wanted a machine which requires less work for home use. This makes an amazing cup of Americano, and better compared to Aeropress, and so much better compared to drip coffee. Using and cleaning are also very easy, and 100 bucks is not much for the quality and considering how expensive espresso machines can get. I strongly recommend it.

Update: One feature that I wish existed is that it currently allows you to start brewing even if the lever is not pulled down & secured, and when you do that it will splash all over making a huge mess. I think it would be very easy to detect whether the lever is securely closed, and not operate if it's not closed. I'm sure most people have made this mistake when they were new to it or while they are in a morning rush, having other things on their minds, etc.