We have last year's 27" Gagg combi & love it. (It's identical to the 24" inside.) Having it plumbed is fantastic. It never runs out of water/steam, it can remove the steam before you open the door, we never have to deal with removing water, and the capacity is larger than an unplumbed steam oven. There is a water hardness setting that you must set before using the oven the first time. You'll also want the water connection to be easily accessible in case you need to clear the filter screen (which we haven't had to do yet). Our water shut-off is in the rear of the cabinet above the combi, and our carpenter built a removable cover that sits in front of it. I can still use the cabinet for the combi racks, trays, muffin pans, etc. in off-the-shelf tray racks. The combi can also be used as a regular small convection oven for casseroles, baked items, & so on by setting zero steam & oven temperature. The ability to combine 60% steam with a temperature of 250 allows for gentle reheating or 360 to roast chicken while keeping it moist. A friend of mine has her 24" aluminum Gagg combi stacked over a 30" SS Miele Masterchef oven & it looks great. We have our combi over a Gagg convection oven, but we mixed up the rest of our appliances, including a DCS all gas range & Monogram Advantium.

I have a Wolf convection steam oven and love it. It's not plumbed, which you probably already know. It has occasionally run out of water while cooking but when that happens, the oven beeps, opens the door to the water reservoir automatically and displays a message to fill the tank. When I remember to check that the water tank is full before cooking, I haven't had a problem with it running out during use.

I don't know the answer but I am curious. if I were you (and having the benefit of hindsight) I wouldn't hesitate to call any of the Miele USA "Experience Centers" and ask to talk to any of the design staff. If you are in the US start with the Princeton, NJ center, their US headquarters. Even better if you can get to a center. The staff at these centers are a world apart from anyone you'll encounter at any appliance dealer, they use the products for demos and classes and typically have the appliances in their own homes. And it's their job to know the details on what you are asking. And report back and let us know. P.S: A little searching and I found this: https://www.mieleusa.com/media/ex/us/PressReleases/2021/9.2021_Generation_7000_Launch.pdf. Food View sounds interesting. There's also this thread: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6229141/miele-7000-series-speed-combi-steam#n=10 Advice on calling the experience centers still stands.

We have a drain pan under our CSO, and I bought the extended warranty. It's just a belts-and-suspenders type of thing. But I am really not too worried about the plumbed version. Yes, things can always go wrong with any appliance. But I have not seen any pattern of the plumbed model being reported as more error prone (and yes, both models can have problems; that's why you make sure to precisely follow installation instructions and why you have warranty). This forum definitely does bring out the complaints; if something can go wrong, you'll read about it here. So, if the plumbed version had a lot more problems than the non-plumbed version, I think we'd know. It's possible that the plumbed version has a unique failure mode. But unless I read specific reports of it, I'd for now chalk it up as paranoia and hear say.