Make sure you are able to try the same type of machine and setup you would have installed and make sure you are happy with it. I've had coffee from more than one and did not care for it. I think you can get better espresso and coffee from a countertop model.

We had the same experience as lascatx - got to try the Miele (our friend said she'd done all the research and had chosen that one over the others) and didn't care for what came out of it or how it worked. I ended up buying my husband a Gaggia counter-top model [cost a fortune but we can take it with us :-) !!] from WholeLatteLove.com and he still says to this day that it's one of the best things we've ever bought for a kitchen!

Here is a link that might be useful: Gaggia Titanium

If your budget is already in the $2K range, keep in mind that for that money you can get a plumbed-in pro-level countertop semiautomatic machine and grinder that will, with a few hours practice, produce espresso shots that will blow away the output of even the most expensive superauto machine. In addition, it will be built of higher grade materials (steel, brass and chrome rather than plastic) and will be mechanically much simpler and therefore far more reliable in the long run than the superauto. And far better looking in your kitchen -- at least to my eyes.

And remember that like built in microwaves and other smaller appliances, after a certain period of time the thing will break down...could be 10 years...and you've made a custom opening the size of that espresso maker in your cabinets. Hopefully in 10 years they are still making them the same size so you can get a replacement, or you'll have a nice cubby hole/bookshelf in your cabinets :)

I agree with the others...in the 500-1500 range you can get some pretty spectacular countertop espresso machines now, with a high number of bars of pressure.

We ended up getting the Jura Capresso F9 and love it.
Mrblandings, I'm interested to hear what you'd suggest, though, since we may be looking for a second machine.

hmg58: in that price range you'll be looking at heat exchange (HX) or double boiler machines with an E61 group. Both HX and double boiler designs allow you to steam milk immediately after pulling a shot instead of waiting for the machine to heat up to steam mode. The E61 group provides a preinfusion stage where the machine's pressure builds up slowly, allowing the coffee grounds to swell before being subjected to the full 9 bars of pressure. This avoids the common problem of 'channeling' where the sudden high pressure carves a channel through the grounds instead of flowing through the coffee uniformly. To get good results from any of these machines you should budget $500 or so for a top quality burr grinder such as a Mazzer or Macap.

There are many good machines at this level -- I would check out the offerings from wholelattelove.com, chriscoffee.com, and 1st-line.com. The web sites coffeegeek.com and home-barista.com are great sources of information and advice.

As for myself, I use a fully manual lever machine (the Gaggia Factory). I'm assuming that's too much of a stretch for anyone contemplating a superauto to consider, but I will say that for anyone who, like me, rarely makes more than 2 or 3 shots a day, I think a lever machine makes a lot of sense.

The Gaggia Titanium that we have is SS, not plastic, and it has the double boiler so we can steam/foam/froth immediately. We did a lot of research and the folks at Wholelattelove were incredibly helpful....highly recommend working with them.

We looked at the built-in Miele 2 years ago and abandoned the idea for all the reasons listed (especially the "awful" coffee!) plus several negative comments from dealers who handled them (one of whom said he was going to stop doing so -- too many repair calls).

I'd put the money into a really good countertop machine instead!

Our countertop is a Jura Capresso S8 (we actually have an S7 and an S8), double boiler, super automatic. It makes great coffee, but like any new machine, you may have to experiment to find the best beans for it. The adjustable brew head allows us to brew a single shot directly into a demitasse or steam and brew directly into a tall latte mug. The lack of that feature on the new machines is why we bought a 2nd refurbished unit to have as an insurance policy rather than face having to buy a newer model with additional features we didn't care about at twice the price.

The refurbished models are available at www.wholelattelove.com and www.aabreecoffee.com. We've shopped and bought from both and recommend them both. Looks like they no longer have the S7-9, but have the similar S9 Avantgarde for $1299.

I have the built-in Miele and while it looks cool and I did figure out how to get it to make good coffee, it took about 400 cups (maybe more) to work it out. My old countertop Saeco worked just as well, if not better. I'm not worried aboutthe opening, plenty of things will fit in there if I need to replace it (several other coffee makers, a Miele Speed Oven, although I have one already, etc.). That being said, if i had it to do again, I'd go with a really great countertop model.

I too went to Miele 2 years ago to check out the built-in coffee machine. It appeared to be a PITA to load & clean, and our Capressa Team coffeemaker at home makes better coffee. I figured we could buy a super automatic for the price. We still haven't done that, but did get a Keurig k-cup (single serving) machine for our master suite. It gives us a freshly brewed good cup of coffee, tea, or hot chocolate, and there's nothing to clean (especially important in a non-kitchen environment).