It's great to read a long-term report -- they come along so rarely!

Kudos to W-S, even though I try to avoid the place! (Kid in a candy store...)

Boos to Jura and their super-automatics! (Well, boo to all super-automatics, but that's just me...) Hopefully all will be well with the DeLonghi.

I have a DeLonghi Magnifica (super automatic - sorry, Joe, but I can't make a decent pot of coffee, never mind espresso!) and I really like it. I think you'll be pleased.

I had no idea that WS provided lifetime guarantees on these things -- they should SHOUT about it. (I just bought my DH the DeLonghi Magnifica (3500N) for Christmas, but from Macy's.)

I know how you feel Pirula. Mine lasted about 6 months. And after 3 trips back and forth to New Jersey.... I just had enough. I remember the day putting it into the recycling bin.

LESSON LEARNED!

For that much money, I could have rented an apartment next to starbucks.

wow villandry, that's unbelievable. I have to say we were really happy with ours until this. We had one issue with it early on, but easily fixed. We were all ready to buy another Jura Capresso, thinking we were just unlucky, when the WS person told us about the warranty issue. There was no way I was taking that kind of risk with a Jura again.

DH ordered the Delonghi 3300. Will try and get back here to report how we like it. Free shipping and guaranteed delivery by Christmas, AND lifetime warranty (just in case).

Ivette

That lifetime warranty is very nice. Another thing about the Capresso is I had to pay the shipping which was very expensive. Of course, they paid to ship it back.

Good Luck with the Delonghi. I have heard good things.

One of the newest gadgets to come out, as mentioned in the Nov 2007 Pop Science article on Dave Arnold aka Dr. Delicious, is a SxS refrig with water/ice in one door, and an expresso machine in the other! Imagine trying to ship that one back for repairs, LOL!

Hope the Delonghi works out well for you.

My $700 c1000 capresso is still going strong after several years without a hint of trouble. Here's hoping it keeps going on as I love the thing. Too sleepy in the morning to grind beans myself. Everything is made from scratch in my kitchen and then there's this ridiculously indulgent automated coffee behemoth sitting there. But I really, really love it. I'm sorry that you lost yours.

I have no idea about the DeLonghi but have been eyeing the Nespresso machines. They do take capsules but are very inexpensive compared to many others (of course you spend it on the coffee). There's a comparison chart on this site.

We have a cafe which uses these where I live and the coffee is delicious. They use their own machines at the bar.

Here is a link that might be useful: Nespresso

I thought I'd add my good experience with William Sonoma. About a year ago our toaster oven (which cost about $100) door shattered when the rack touched the glass. It was a couple of years old and although I didn't have the receipt, they exchanged it for a new one with no hassle.

I occasionally buy things at certain more expensive stores if the customer service is outstanding - like Nordstroms. DH bought a pair of shoes and after wearing them for a year had trouble with the heel. They fixed it promptly. I love it when stores stand behind their products.

I never knew about the life time warranty either. I guess you can always learn something new here. I have only been to a Williams Sonoma store once, on vacation at the mall of America.

Yes, their lifetime warranty is terrific.

Okay, report on the new machine!:

We got the DeLonghi 3300, and so far we really like it. I say "we" but really, the DH is the coffee afficianado in this house, not moi.

Anyway, it's a good looking machine, and a bit smaller than the behemoth which was the Jura, which is a plus. It holds about the same amount of beans, but considerably less water. So, it needs refilling more often. Not that big of a deal.

The coffee is rich and delicious and to my taste, it makes better steamed milk and foam than the Jura did.

The controls are far more intuitive than the Jura was, at least to my mind they are, as far as strength of brew and size of cup. DH has no preference on that score. Likes them both the same.

There is no digital readout, like the Jura had, but little lights make it clear when it needs more water or beans, or needs cleaning or whatever.

Fit and finish are very nice, it's a good looking machine. It does everything the Jura did, including the bypass for my decaf.

It's noisy as hell. But so was the Jura. Some of the ones we saw at WS were really really quiet, so it can be done. Since we were used to the noise of the Jura, we don't mind the noise on this one so much. LOL.

Another benefit of this one is cleanup is less messy because the water doesn't seem to get dumped into the tray as much and the grounds are tamped into neat little "cakes" instead of just loose mounds.

Anyway, it's great unit, we really like it. So far so good. WS delivered free on Christmas Eve and DH has put it through the ringer since as far as lots of use. All good.

Happy New Year everyone!
Ivette

Man but this lack of a search option is frustrating. I thought Pirula had put her foot in her mouth on a thread about coffee-makers of all things and had her post yanked ;-) until I saw the warning about GW searches being down. Took a manual search through a dozen or so pages to find this thread.

Anyhow, the reason I'm posting is to request a performance update from the Delonghi 3300 Magnifica people. We were keeping an eye on this thread since have been on the market for a coffee/espresso maker and the husband was collecting reviews. Well, he too settled on the Delonghi Magnifica 3300 and I went to take a look at it today and I thought it was quite flimsy feeling especially at nearly $1K for a coffee-maker. The plastic dial seemed insubstantial and felt/looked quite flimsy and the wobbly buttons - a whole row of several flimsy, wobbly looking ones at that - don't inspire much confidence that this would last the year let alone at least 5 years service that you'd expect a $1K machine to provide.

Also, most of this machine seems to be plastic. Is that true of the parts that contact and dispense hot water too? Certainly anything discernible seemed to be all plastic. Hot water swirling around plastic usually takes on a nasty flavour which is why glass or metal is usually preferred around hot water; is this interference with taste not the case in this machine?

So, despite my incredulity at the fit and finish of this machine, because some of you have opined well on the workings of this machine, I'm asking those who have had it or have any experience with this if you can weigh in with your assessment of the machine, if it is providing the longevity or if things are dropping off at the rate that to me it would appear things should be dropping off of it.

Also, we were looking at the Jura Capresso E9, F8 and F9 at Williams Sonoma. Any one have any opinions to share on these machines? All of these were at least somewhat more inspiring that they'd live to see the end of the year.

Lastly, Ivette, for completeness we wanted to hear from WS about their reasons for discontinuing lifetime coverage for the Juras; to us anyhow, WS's stories for discontinuing their lifetime service warrantee on these machines are getting in the realm of the ridiculous. We went in a couple or so weeks ago and the lady there said that it was because they found that people were using the Jura's "semi-professionally" which these aren't built for and that was why they were breaking and WS didn't want to take that loss. Well, I thought that was a story and a half (how would WS know that their customers were using JC's thusly?). Today went in again, and asked a different lady and her even wilder story was that it was because these being pricey machines, there have been many thefts of these machines and people were returning stolen machines for a big store credit. So this was Jura's or Capresso's policy and no amount of questioning could get her to go off of Jura's warranties and on to WS's vis a vis these machines. Got a bit fed up that so many WS people thought I looked so gullible that I'd fall for such yarns, so I told her that was hog-wash and if she could confirm if these machines last or don't last. Not a good answer but to reassure us (wide eyes and promises on the bible) that Williams Sonomas around the country have been hit with a professional hit of Jura Capresso kidnappers. The next time I go to a WS, I'm going to ask again - the stories get wilder. I'd love it if anyone going to WS could check in and report WHY WS is not providing the longer than 2year warranty on these machines. Perhaps the mean of the reasons will point to the truth. I'd certainly like to know if JC's are fragile machines.

I just bought a jura s9 avantgard in june of '07 (before they disco'd the life time warranty on them), it has been a great machine. But without that warranty i think i'd have gone with another super from WS. i was told @ the store i got it from and the WS on Michigan in chicago that i would be grandfathered into the lifetime warranty because when i shelled out the 2k that is what they advertised. this is my secon jura, the first was c1300 that crapped out after about 6000 cups or a 1 1/2 years (free from work), i love the machines coffee and ease of use but i am not sold on the jura for the long hall. all that rambling aside when my jura does kick it, i will be taking my 2k store credit @ WS and getting another brand super auto so i can maintain the lifetime warranty.

Mindstorm, we have 2 of the S series. The first was bought refurbished and had over 5000 cups last time I checked, and no problems over about 4 years. So why the second? We thought we were about to have a problem, but discovered some coffee gunk had built up on a sensor -- cleaned it off and problem solved. Meanwhile, we looked around a bit and discovered that our particular machine had been discontinued, the new one closest to it was twice what we paid and the newer model above that 3 times. We found that we could still get a refurbished unit in the same style we had and a similar price and thought it was worth having as insurance and eventual use. We are using the new one now and DH may take the first one to the office (is he spoiled or what? LOL).

Ours are the S7 and S9 -- the only difference is the color of the front pieces -- black vs. a stainless-like finish. This model has a brew head that adjusts enough to allow DH to bring it down over his espresso cup and me to steam and brew directly into a tall, oversize mug. I love not having to deal with a steaming pitcher. The newer model did not adjust as high.

As I understand it, the main difference between the F series and the S searies is that the F has a single boiler and the S has two. That means that you can steam and brew without waiting in between. It also means there may be less wear on the machine, but it adds considerably to the price.

I have heard of these machines being used as light commercial machines, and I think they are rated that way on some of the websites that sell them. I can't tell you if Jura's warranty covers that or not, but I can understand that WS doesn't want to get into that -- not only the higher use, but also the abuse of a lot of different people who don't own the machine.

Should these both die on us someday, we'll look at the new Jura models. It was hard for us to spend as much as we did for "a coffee maker", but we did it again and have no regrets.

I got my husband the DeLonghi Magnifica 3500N for Christmas, and it is a big hit! Incredibly good espresso (his choice) and the easiest cappuccino imaginable (my choice). Digital display tells us what we need to do. Case of machine is metal and substantial. Conical burr grinder is excellent. I highly recommend this model for people who prefer not to use coffee pods.

I don't think it feels particularly flimsy mindstorm. Certainly the same as the Jura did, which had about as much plastic. So far so good, but you can't take our experience it's only been a few weeks.

That's too funny about the WS stories. Bottom line though is that they don't offer lifetime on Jura's anymore and from my experience, that's enough for me not to risk it again. Too bad. I do remember javaman warning me that not only the Jura's, but that ALL superautomatics are persnickety, don't like being moved, etc etc. So I'm not sure it's just the Juras.

Ivette