buehl This post reflects my experience and opinion ONLY. I know of Sshrivastava's post because I tried changing to the EU mode after he mentioned it. It does change the machines fill behavior but no one is sure why and it doesn't make too much difference anyway. One theory is that in the USA mode (it fills with a bit of water, sprays it around for 6 or 7 seconds, then pauses the spray while the water continues to run in, and then the spray restarts)it is filling differently because most here have hot water fills, and sending hot water over dishes all at once weakens them speeding up damage. In fact in the Euro mode the DW fills the same way as in the USA mode for ONE FILL....the fill between the wash and the first rinse...in Europe with all cold fills this ends up being the The HOT HOT wash followed directly with a blast of cold water for the first cold rinse..so in the USA this might be why it is using this staged type fill. My older Miele DW did not fill this way but this staged fill doesn't bother me in the least. I don't know if the other models in this current line fill like this or not since both SShirvastava and I have the LaPerla. In any case..the fill pattern is not that big a deal for me. More water: Well I couldn't verify that because the Laperla and Excella have automatic load recognition so the water level is going to vary with the amount of dishes in the load. There are some cycles that seem to be programmed to fill with more water. Heavy Soil, Pasta, Cheese--the spray pattern also seems to be different for some of these cycles as well. I do think the cycle times are longer(which may be an indication of LESS water in a fill--stricter energy standards) in the EU mode and I really don't need that. You can cause the machine to add extra rinses and you can increase the wash temperatures but I don't think you need to switch it to EU mode to do so. Dumbed-down: Well I think it is true that you had more programmable control over the older Miele washers. I have the W1986 and program it to always use higher fills and do some other things that cannot be done on the W1213 or W1215...the models directly after it. I don't know if that still applies to the new models released this year. BUT for the models before mine you could do EVEN MORE than I can. So the trend seems to be to keep it simple for the masses. I redid my kitchen last year and to be honest I didn't need a new DW. My 10 year old Miele was still working just fine. The reason I decided to get this new one was because I saw that the functionality it contained was still global(same basic machine that Miele sells in other countries and still configurable) and I was afraid that in the future Miele would issue a DW made just for the USA the same way Bosch has done. I really want what the rest of the world has access to so I opted to get this the DW last year while I still can. I am not trashing products made in the U.S.A or made just for the U.S.A. but I would like to the same functionality available to me that the rest of the world has and then Let me choose to use it or not. Yes somethings are different---but this does not make them inferior...just different. Sorry this is long, but if like me, you are worried that Miele may release a new dishwasher specifically for the U.S.A, and you are not sure you would like it, AND you want a Miele DW, then I would think about getting it now. LIke I said I don't know if you can do this on the Optima. The interface is different but I suspect it can be done. The Excella has the same menu interface, but without the touch screen buttons still I can't see why you couldn't do this if you wanted since they must have some type of service proceedure..I just don't know how to do it. I will also say that I don't think Miele expects the general population to be in this service menu because there is no mention of this menu or how to get to it in the manual, but the techs know about it.

The Fagor never made it onto my radar screen, but it looks like it might be the same as the Ariston, the one I wasn't able to see in person. Honestly, at the prices we are talking about, I cannot see spending so much money for a manual steamer wand machine when for a little more you can get the Miele with the automatic foam and hot milk system. But since you asked, after 6 months I am getting a little annoyed with the Miele. Though we love the beverages and the convenience, I am getting a nagging S2 fault intermittently that requires me to get up and cycle the front door interlock to get it to shut up. I called Miele and they will only send someone out to fix it on my dime. No warranty at all. Why? Because I bought the machine on ebay. The seller was a Miele dealer in New York, but Miele won't honor the new machine warranty. Personally, I think Miele, as a corporation, sucks. I will buy a set of service documents on the black market and fix it myself I guess. To answer mhjohnson, I don't think the problem is Arabica beans, but it may be the roast. A lot of these coffees are over roasted today, particularly from the influence of Starbucks, which really roasts with a heavy hand. I would look for a medium roast bean, set the coarseness of the grind to no more than halfway, and then start making experimental coffees, dialing up the water and down the amount of coffee until you hit his happy spot. One other trick is get a cup, dial up ONE shot of espresso, then use the hot water button and fill the cup with hot water. Stir it up and see if he likes it. Then adjust the coffee up and water down until you hit the right mixture. Once you get done with this, set up 2 profiles so that he can dial coffee his way and you the right way.

I'm a coffee drinker but not a snob. I like really good coffee but I also drink it all day so a decent cup of jo is really all I'm after most of the time. I wanted something a bit more convenient than a stand alone counter top model. When searching I found a lot of dissenters like joc6820 regarding any auto/or super automatic coffee maker. And further found that the higher end ones often produce an inferior product and tend to fail frequently. After perusing many forums I found a review for the Brew Express where the snobby reviewer said that while it wasn't a fantastic cup of coffee it made a very good cup and that if he HAD to have an automatic brewer this would be the one to get. Sounded good to me, I've had a 10 cup maker for over a year now and make at least 4 pots a day, sometimes as many as 10 depending on how many people are over. It's as good a cup as my Bunn made. It's plumbed in, you just need to empty the basket and put in a filter and coffee, it has a thermal carafe so no hot plate. It's not quite as fast as the Bunn but it's pretty fast. My only complaint is 10 cups isn't much coffee and the carafe only keeps coffee 'hot' for about an hour or so. About 6 weeks ago it just stopped working in the middle of brewing a pot, I figured "here we go", called service, answered a couple questions, went on line and filled out a service request. Even though the warranty was up they agreed to fix it no charge, I sent back the unit (which basically plugs into the wall) and 5 days later was making coffee again. It's relatively inexpensive for a plumbed in unit and is very easy to hook up with quick connect attachments for the water line. I put it next to the fridge so water is right there. I would get another one if this one lasts around 5 years (my Bunns never made it past about 5-6 years).

My plumbed machine has been in use for about 3 months. I closely follow all the many maintenance and cleaning requirements. After about six weeks, though, the milk valve cleaning brush looked like this. Which I think is unacceptable. I called Miele support and of course they directed me to the Miele store where I could purchase another brush. Except the new brush sells for the outrageous price of $25.35. After complaining to support they ghosted me. A bit of internet searching finally got me to Kleenteeth.com and this: It's longer than the typical interdental brush, so works perfectly in cleaning the milk valve. So at about $2 per brush (which incudes the shipping) I'm way ahead of Miele's 'offer'.