agree, and there are so many good models now, that I'd hate to constrain my choices to those that can be built in.

Have miele built in and are happy with it.

Friends have a Miele it makes crappy espresso compared to my ancient Ranchilio they also have to to have repairs done 3 times in the last year. I much prefer a amachine i can take to the repair shop if needed and there are some very nice ones on the market. We have now gone to a Nespresso with an attached foamer that makes hot or cold foam and I love it . We put our Ranchilio in the media room on the bar to save trips upstairs for coffee.

Honestly, I don't drink coffee myself so I'm not the best resource for taste. I do make it for everyone though so I can vouch for its ease of use which isn't bad. It smells and looks good. My wife really wanted it, she's happy with it. I'm told she likes it better than most/all coffee shops. Everyone else who's had espresso drinks from it seemed to think it was very good tasting. Who knows, maybe they are all lying because they didn't want to hurt my feelings for my over priced purchase? My partner at works had one once about 3 weeks ago and talks about it regularly since. My understanding is its bean dependent, so if you use crappy beans it tastes like it. I just bought some well reviewed ones off Amazon.

I have the Miele built in and I love it!

We have the Brew Express countertop model. (They also have a "built-in" model.) Either way, it is plumbed in. Makes great coffee! Not even close to the price of a Miele!

I don't have one. But the Miele build in models look fantastic, and if I had the room I'd have put one in, a plumbed in model of course.

Yes, just for the looks, and maybe for the occasional guest who drinks coffee.

And of course I'd utilize the feature that turns on a separate warming drawer to warm up your coffee cups for the morning (or whenever). Counter top models don't have come plumbed in (I assume), nor interact with warming drawers, etc.

Future, countertop espresso machines are plumbable. They do not interface with warming drawers, for sure. And per Jan Moyer's comment about how good looking they are sitting on a counter, here is my favorite, all-Italian looker:

The Vesuvius

Most espresso machines have the warming feature on the top of the unit. In the picture Rita posted, you would put the cups on the top of the unit and they are nice and warm when you make a cup of coffee. A separate warming drawer is not needed.

if you have the extra wall space then the Miele is very good. Coffee freaks may scoff at it (compared to high end countertop units) but it is very good coffee. Be warned that the cleaning on the units is frequent and must be followed or they will gum up. There are a variety of countertop units (miele, Jura) that are very good as well - they just take up counter space. They also require cleaning frequently

I know that Miele has such unit, but I don't know how great the coffee is..I would go with an above the counter since there you have more options. We have a S1 Vivaldi II by La Spaziale and it's been great. There are other just as good or better

>... has such unit, but I don't know how great the coffee is.

If I were debating whether to do an in cabinet coffee machine, I'd spend a full Saturday going around to the showrooms of the brands and models I was considering, and doing real live taste tests using the (showroom demo) machines.

Bring your own coffee of course, and maybe even your own tap water (this may be a bit over the top), and a few friends to get a mix of opinions.

I'll add one more comment, which is totally my own opinion. A countertop appliance with water and/or drain plumbing connections, is where I'd draw the line and say such an arrangement should be in cabinet/built in. If the appliance did not have the plumbing connections then it's ok as a stand alone counter top appliance.

My pet peeve here is the water and or drain connection would make the appliance, as great as it looks (in the above picture), be almost permanent in a specific counter top location. You'd be sacrificing prime counter top space to an almost permanent machine. So if you're going make the device tethered like that, go all the way and put it in a cabinet, or alternatively in a cabinet niche with a slide out bottom surface with permanent cabinetry on both sides plus above or below.

We are getting the built in and plumbed Miele ... it was the only thing my DH asked for in the kitchen renovation! He sampled one at a showroom and liked it.