We love our new Gaggia Magenta Prestige! We read tons of reviews and own a gaggia classic, but wanted to upgrade to an fully automated espresso and cappuccino experience and we haven't been disappointed except for one thing. Every time we try to use the ground coffee bypass, to use decaf, it would spill grinds all over inside the brew group. Cleaning it out is a long process so after five failed attempts I reached out to technical support at WholeLatteLove. They told me that pouring the measured ground coffee into the bypass shoot can only be done AFTER choosing the drink settings and the bypass setting.
I've attached a page from the manual however which says the exact opposite, the manual instructs adding the ground coffee first! You would think an $800 machine would have no errors in the manual!
Now our dream machine is working like a dream because we know the right order of steps finally!

Few hundred drinks in now and so far so good. Very convenient. Pre-heating your cup tends to fix the "doesn't get hot enough" issue on some drinks.

I'm a Gaggia fan as this is my second one. I originally bought an Accademia model but it was falling apart after 7 years. I wanted to buy a new one but the new version was so expensive. I compromised and purchased this model. I like the compactness and location of the hoppers but not a big fan of the waste water tray. You need to be close to the sink because it requires a little balancing to avoid spilling. The milk carafe is a bit flimsy too as is the housing plastic but that's why it's less expensive. I really like the display and a larger variety of coffee type drinks. A cover for the coffee beans would've been nice. The quality of the drinks are very good. I saved some money and am happy.

We've used a Jura S9 machine (well, two of them after the first died) for about 15 years. Our last one has made more than 22k drinks, but was really starting to struggle and it's no longer worth the repair bills (although their service was outstanding). This is a significantly lower-priced machine but I pulled several shots from each and can't tell much difference. Since we typically make milk drinks like cappuccinos and lattes, any minor differences in the shots would likely not be noticeable to me anyway. Some quick observations:

- The Gaggia does a better job on heating milk. I like really hot drinks, and the Jura could never heat the milk enough.
- We used a powered external milk cooler for the Jura which held a lot more and never needed to be put in the fridge, so this is less convenient but not a big deal. I wish it held more milk, however.
- Love the very easy customization options for a machine at this price. The ability to save them is great.
- The machine pulls shots and adds milk in the correct order depending on the drink. Very nice.
- For double shots, it actually grinds and pulls two separate shots, versus just adding more water to the same shot...a lot nicer than our Jura did (other Jura models may do this, but not at this price point).
- We use the bypass frequently when we want decaf. My biggest complaint is it struggles to pull a shot through a grind you would typically do for an espresso machine. I'm going to have to get more coarsely ground beans from my local shop, which i suspect will require some experimenting.

Overall very happy with what this does versus more expensive machines. I'll miss our Jura but so far this has been a good replacement.

I've owned this machine for just around 3 months and it is great for hassle-free espresso and milk drinks. There are enough settings to play with (amount of grounds, volume of shot, amount and temperature of milk, etc) for customizing the drinks to your preference. Bear in mind that this is a super-auto, so there will be some compromises when it comes to the coffee quality. If you want precise control and barista-level coffee you want to look at semi-auto machines. Overall it's a great machine but there are some serious cons that potential buyers may want to consider before making a decision.

Pluses:
I love the true double espresso shot feature, grinding and pulling 2 shots instead of using the same grinds twice to water down the espresso. I like the milk carafe feature, I'm not interested in a DIY milk frother/steamer especially when I'm caffeine deprived and bleary-eyed in the morning. I like that the drinks are clearly displayed and the menu is easy to navigate. It is compact enough to fit in a corner of my counter and under my cabinets without taking up too much space.

Caveats:
1) Milk carafe is not easy to clean. It has 7 parts (see pic) some of them require a bit of fiddling to dissemble and clean properly. It will get cruddy even if you quick clean it after every drink. I would suggest keeping the temperature at medium and a full cleaning every 2-3 weeks.

2) No profile feature. Unless you are the only one using the machine it can get very frustrating in a multi-person household to set up preferences only to have them rewritten by the next person using the machine. Considering that similarly priced Lattego 4300 has this feature (and the fact that Philips owns Gaggia, Saeco, and Philips brands) it is a definite letdown.

3) The small cup shelf cannot be used in conjunction with the milk carafe and it is extremely annoying to constantly adjust the cup for small-volume drinks. It is such an easy fix that I cannot believe Gaggia did not include a separate shelf.

4) There are a few other minor niggles that can't be classified as cons but are worth noting for anyone considering this machine. a) The grinder has only 5 settings, I can't say if it affects the quality of the espresso but if you prefer finer control you may want to look elsewhere. b) It does not come with a filter which is mildly infuriating considering it costs upwards of $800. c) The water tank is super fiddly, especially the handle. If you plan on regularly removing it to refill, there is a good chance it will break.