Nespresso Gran Lattissima Original Espresso Machine with Milk Frother by De'Longhi, Fresh White

I purchased the machine for myself as a birthday present, and I've had it for about 6 weeks. We have a Pavoni espresso machine, which my husband loves for his espressos, but I think it's a pain for making lattes: grinding the beans, tamping down the pod, "pulling" the lever (which will be really hard if you tamp it too densely), steaming the milk, and then cleaning the steaming wand, not to mention what a pain to refill the water chamber (turn off, wait till pressure is gone, then you can refill). Why am I listing all of these steps? Because that's what you don't have to worry about with the Lattissima! Here are my steps now: turn on the machine, get the milk container out of the fridge and plug into the front, put an espresso capsule in the top, stick a mug under the spout, and push the Latte button. Done. You do need to clean the frother, which is just putting another cup under the spout, turn the milk to "clean" and let it clean, then you can remove the milk container and stick it in the fridge. I clean the milk container once a week, soaking all the pieces in a bowl of hot soapy water for a few hours.What I like: it tells me what to do next - "turn milk to clean", and "put milk back in fridge". It is easy to clean, both the base and the milk container. I like the milk container situation - I think what they've done to keep it clean ensures there's no moldy/yukky stuff sticking around anywhere. Holds enough water for the week, and easy to refill water. It makes perfect foam! I have it on the lowest foam setting and it's still a lot of foam for me. It's not too loud (I've used Keurig and Tassimo - they are louder!) It's mostly simple to use (I did read the manual first). It seems sturdy and well-built. You can make hot water (which I honestly haven't used yet). You can recycle the capsules (I think Sur La Table accepts them). And last, the espressos are just as good as what I can make on my Pavoni!What I don't like: as others have mentioned, the frothed milk is not that hot (the espresso is hot). That's one thing I do miss from the Pavoni - really hot milk. Also, the pre-programmed milk volume is not that much, 5oz. You can change the programming to increase to a max of 6.8oz but instead I just have a second Latte. I probably will change the programming at some point (when I go through my first batch of capsules and have to buy more!)Overall, I'm very pleased with this machine. Was it worth the $$? I think so (I got it on sale and didn't pay full price). Would I have paid the original price of $599? Probably not - DeLonghi did lower the price to $499, then some retailers offered additional discounts. So if you want the convenience of a capsule system with great tasting espressos, and are fine with not-super-hot milk, and can justify the cost, this is a great buy.Update 6/6/2015: After several months of perfect lattes, I had the following experience. I usually clean the milk carafe every 1 to 2 weeks - I take all the pieces apart and soak them in a bowl of hot, soapy water for several hours. While putting it back together yesterday, the top milk froth regulator knob would not go back in place. I futzed with it the whole day, unsuccessfully. I soaked it multiple times for several hours in hot soapy water, I took a fork and tried to play with the spring-loaded receptacle, I searched the web for answers as well to see if I could just buy a carafe by itself (nothing and no), I stopped by the local Williams Sonoma so I could look at another carafe and see how it worked (they didn't have any in stock). I was just getting ready to call the Nespresso support line, when I thought I would run it through a dishwashing cycle. While still very warm from the cycle ending, I tried again, and this time whatever was stuck became unstuck. Whew. I can't believe how much it bothered me that this $$$ machine would have mechanical problems so soon, and how much time I spent on it! So, a few thoughts after my day of frustration: 1) De Longhi needs to sell carafes separately (one for soy and one for milk?) 2) Hasn't anyone else had this problem? Why couldn't I find anything else about it on the web? and 3) I'm pretty pathetic if I let this bother me and consume my whole day!By the way, the manual does recommend dishwashing every week, but soaking in hot water for several hours is also okay if you do not have a dishwasher. I guess I wasn't soaking it often enough?Update 6/8/2016: Over a year later, still VERY happy with my machine. One minor nit-pick though, and this would be the same for either of the Lattissima machines, is the clean function. While I usually only have one or two lattes a day, when you have company and want to make several right at the same time, having to clean after every cup is not very efficient. How about cleaning after the last one? I haven't yet tried to pull the milk carafe off and put it back on and see if that resets the clean...

I definitely don't consider myself a coffee connoisseur. I simply enjoy coffee, whether it be from a coffee shop like Starbucks or from my machine at home. For me, as long as the coffee tastes good, I'm happy. I was able to pick up this machine for $437 during some sale here on Amazon. I still would consider it worthwhile at the current asking price of $585. You buy this machine for three main reasons: convenience, consistency and speed. If you want a coffee quickly before heading to work, you don't even need to read the rest of this review. Buy this machine, you will not be disappointed. For those who are interested in hearing why I bought this machine and what my thoughts are, read on.--Pros--- FastThis machine is seriously fast on startup. I turn it on, grab my milk frother from the fridge, and before I know it the machine is ready to go. Not only that, The frother itself is the fastest I have ever seen on a machine. It instantaneously froths milk as it passes through into the coffee cup.- SimpleAt work we have a $1500 espresso machine that grinds the coffee automatically, has a frothing wand that lowers into the cup and froths your milk automatically for you. I find myself preferring to use my machine before work. Why? Because this crazy machine we have at work sometimes doesn't froth properly, or doesn't grind the coffee properly and you end up with a cup of warm milk. The De'Longhi is amazing in that it is simple, there is so much less that can fail.- QuickNow wait a second Alex, you already said it was fast. Where are you going with this? So what do I mean by quick? The machine is intuitively easy to use. There are six quick and easy presets to choose from. There is no need to go digging through the mass of menus like the crazy machine at work has. The De'Longhi is like the race car of espresso machines. Not only does it start up quickly, the use of this machine is fast and responsive.- Fresh CoffeeThis one is pretty self explanatory. You get the freshness of beans coupled with the convenience of pre-ground coffee with the Nesspresso pods.--Cons--- Expensive PodsThis is the Achilles heel of this machine. The pods are not cheap. There are off brand pods, however these are not guaranteed to be the same level of quality of those from Nesspresso. Personally, I think this is a compromise that is well worth it.- Difficult to self serviceLike any automatic machine, if this one breaks it will have to be sent back unless you are comfortable opening it up to see what makes it tick.- Not for everyoneI imagine the espresso connoisseur would raise his nose in disgust at this machine. However, this machine is a constant source of delicious coffee and happiness for me. If you simply enjoy coffee for both the taste and as a wake up in the morning, this bad boy is for you.--Conclusion--By no means is this a full review. I consider myself a terrible writer and a very forgetful person. However, I hope this pushes a few people who are on the fence into buying this machine because I promise you you will not be disappointed. I have only owned this machine for a few months, but it has performed flawlessly during that time.Good luck fellow shoppers, let you make the best of decisions.Alex