Advice on which Coffee Machine to Buy

bobwokeup on 01/02/2018 - 20:36

We've had a Nespresso pod machine for a few years and decided it is time to make the coffee ourselves (first time for both of us). We make 2-4 cups a day between my wife and myself.

Our budget is under $700 and I've narrowed it down to 2 but the price difference is huge.

1st one is the Breville The Barista Espresso Coffee Machine at $679

2nd option is Breville The Infuser Espresso Machine at $394 on clearance.

Not set on the Breville brand but seemed the best value for money when reading reviews.

Food & Grocery

Comments

  • Randxyz123 on 01/02/2018 - 21:01
    +1

    I'd go for the top one as it includes the grinder. Otherwise you can buy the smart grinder the breville make but it'll end up costing the same.

    The other popular combo is the sunbeam machine+grinder.

    • bobwokeup on 03/02/2018 - 21:59

      Good point thanks :)

  • tho760 on 01/02/2018 - 21:04
    +1

    The BES920 is a little higher at $794 at Good Guys and is sub 700 in some sales or if you have vouchers. This seems to one of the more popular machines in the forums and has dual boilers.

    • bobwokeup on 03/02/2018 - 21:59

      So is the benefit of the dual boiler that you can make the espresso and milk at the same time?

      • Randxyz123 on 03/02/2018 - 23:29

        Yep! Without having to wait for it to cool down/heat up before you can do anything.

        Really handy if you do coffee after you have people to dinner. You can have one person on frothing and one on coffee.

        • bobwokeup on 04/02/2018 - 17:20

          It's usually just me making the coffee and after all I am the one that wants to upgrade to a manual machine.

          EDIT: So I think I'll just go with the BES870.

  • aoeueoa on 01/02/2018 - 21:23
    +2

    I'd go second hand Italian machine, unbreakable! If you can keep an eye out for a bargain you'd get much better value. Check out the coffeesnobs forum marketplace too.

    I was lucky enough to score one of these for $500 on ebay. https://www.jetblackespresso.com.au/shop/p/diadema-junior-pl…

    • gilabean on 02/02/2018 - 08:51
      +1

      I agree. I had a sunbeam before this but the boiler died after 2 years. Paid a little bit more for this https://www.jetblackespresso.com.au/shop/p/rancilio-silvia/. Still a workhorse till now.

      At the company that I used to work with, we had the same machine which is >10 years old and still going strong.

  • NuclearWessels on 01/02/2018 - 21:53
    +1

    A few years back Choice did a blind taste testing with a panel of judges and various machines. BES870 won, followed by the Sunbeam EM4820. I bought the BES870 and have had it for about 4 years now. I highly rate it.

  • g1 on 01/02/2018 - 22:10
    +1

    Cheaper to get 840 and grinder on sale. From memory the 870 is 840 with a grinder. Bonus of having them seperate is that if one fails the other one is still ok to use and there is no wasted bench area.

  • jjjaar on 02/02/2018 - 08:45
    -1

    10000% the delonghi magnifica s fully.

  • dapt on 02/02/2018 - 09:03
    +1

    If you're willing and able (i.e. "qualified to work with electronics") to tinker a bit, you can really pare that budget back and get a second-hand Gaggia Classic for about $100-150. Pair that with a Sunbeam EM0480 grinder ($50-100 second hand, $170 new), and you're golden.

  • Peter Enis on 02/02/2018 - 11:30

    If you want good coffee, you need a good grinder. Invest in a good quality grinder that will last a lifetime (I've got a Kompaq K3). That way when you want to get more serious about your coffee you only need to upgrade the machine. My Gaggia Classic is going strong after 5yrs but when I decide to upgrade at least I won't have to upgrade the grinder.

  • bobwokeup on 03/02/2018 - 22:07

    Thanks everyone for the advice…my wife has put the foot down :( She wants 1 machine as it will look nicer and max is $700 spend.

    So my options are pretty limited. It's the BES870 or a refurbished BES920 (found this one on eBay for $545)

    Thoughts??

    • tho760 on 04/02/2018 - 08:27

      920 for sure

    • Randxyz123 on 04/02/2018 - 10:16

      You still need a grinder.

      • bobwokeup on 04/02/2018 - 17:19

        Oh yeah I didn't even notice that, thanks. Looks like it's the BES870 then which will still do the job for us considering the restrictions that have been placed on me.

    • idonotknowwhy on 18/02/2018 - 18:02

      for $700, you can get a Rancilio Silvia V5 (I got one for about $700 from an ebay sale.
      Edit: I just get them to grind it for me at the coffee beans shop.

  • bobwokeup on 19/02/2018 - 14:31

    Thanks everyone for the advice…I ended up getting the Delonghi Magnifica S ECAM 22.110 SB and I love it. The difference in pods vs fresh beans is huge. This will do for a few years and then I'll upgrade the the machines with better grinders :)

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