Recommendations for combo coffee and espresso machine!

I have a Saeco I bought from Costco. It was in the $6-700 ballpark in 2008. It is my second semi automatic espresso machine; DH gave me a Gaggia for my 40th bday, and it only lasted 2 years. I bought the Saeco from Costco because I knew they would make it good if something happened so soon. I bought the Gaggia over the internet, from a site with good reviews, but the when I tried to have the machine repaired under warranty, I was told by the manufacturer that the machine's serial number indicated it was more than 5 years old and had been registered to someone else at some time. The warranty operator speculated that the machine was a refurb, rather than the new unit I had paid for. The site where I bought it refused to discuss it at all and just referred me to the manufacturer after stating that all I needed was the internet receipt I had received from them to use the warranty.

Something to think about when you are looking for an espresso machine is how flexible is it. My machine will, with the touch of a button, make one of three styles of coffee by varying the amount of water that goes thru the grounds. My machine also has a hatch to add pre ground coffee if I want something other than the beans I have in the hopper. I love this feature because I can make decaf at night or when my mom visits without having to clean out the hopper.

Also, if you think you will be making a lot of lattes or cappuccinos at one time, consider buying a separate foamer. It takes a couple of minutes to go from pulling shots to making steam for foaming milk, so a separate foamer allows you to be heating and foaming the milk while pulling the shots. Also, I use my foamer to reheat any coffee I let get too cold. I just throw the cold coffee, or tea, into the foamer and it heats and stirs my brew back I to so etching I want to drink.

My present machine came with an attachment that hooked up to the attached steam valve that would suck milk from the carton, which sounded like a good idea at the time. LOL. That attachment didn't work well and was a PITA to clean. The steam valve works great to foam milk, but I prefer to use my separate foamer.

Most machines that grind the beans fresh do not like oily beans, like really dark roasts or flavored beans. The oil will clog up the grinder which is a PITA to clean. If I am totally jonesing for a flavored coffee, I use a preground coffee or a separate grinder and add it thru the hatch.

Marcy