Customer Reviews

DeLonghi BAR42E Pump-Driven Espresso Maker with Electronic Controls

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you want automatic espresso that tastes fantastic, this machine it definitely for you - and I bought mine as a refurb for $119... what a STEAL! I looked into getting a non-pump, but no crema 50% of the time, and often it was simply not hot enough - two heat settings allow you to choose the heat of your coffee... I also owned at one point a Delonghi with the included milk frother - a true waste, unless you want to clean it after every use, this becomes troublesome. With this model, I get no scalding, great foam down tothe bottom if I want! the special two-part stem does a great job of isolating the heat from foam. Plus as the previosu commentor noted, everything comes apart for easy and thorough cleaning. One note,I imagine a lot of people took this machine back because when you first start it up, the pump is extermely loud and doesn't seem to draw water from the reservoir in the back - my advice, open the steam valve when you are first filling it - when water comes out of the steam spigot, the machine has filled. Turn off the steam valve and proceed as normal - you'll find this machine heats fast, is very low maintenance and puts out superior espresso and latte - a great buy!

I bought my BAR42E at Bloomingdales for $149.99. At that price it's a great coffemaker. I like espresso so I can't comment on the frothy milk drinks. The espresso is nice with a great crema. The machine heats quickly to ready temp and the styling is George Jetson cool. It all comes apart easily for cleaning. It's a substantial machine, not some lightweight piece of plastic. None of the complaints that I've read about the BAR 42 seem to apply to the BAR 42E. I think that you'll like this one.

I received this espresso machine as a gift in June of 2004. It worked great till this month, when all of a sudden large amounts of steam started coming out when we tried to make a cup of espresso. I don't think the milk frother ever really worked properly, either. Today I went to de-scale it, and found that the heating element has broken. DeLonghi says I have to send it to a service center and they won't cover any costs because I'm out of warranty. But for a $300 machine, I expected a lot better quality. Not worth it if I have to replace it every 18 months.
Update--my husband took the machine apart and found a fuse that had blown. He replaced it and it's working for now, but we're getting a spare thermostat and fuse to keep on hand. Also, you need a special kind of tool to unscrew the body, found in auto supply stores mostly.
Update: It's now April 2007 and the machine is still working great, no more repairs needed.

I received this machine as a Christmas gift. It worked great for about two months. Then, without warning, it freaked out. First, after frothing milk the pump would not shut off and it unloaded an entire reservoir of water all over my kitchen counter. I unplugged the unit, and plugged back in, hoping this would reset it. Instead, it will no longer shut off at all.

This, in my opinion, is a dangerous machine. It has a "soft" power switch that's dependent on a microprocessor. If the microprocessor fails, you lose the ability to shut off the machine.

One thing I will say is that De'Longhi customer service was top notch. They were very helpful, even stating they would be happy to pay for any damage to my countertop (fortunately, there wasn't any). They also got a replacement machine to me within a week. It was the EC-701 model, which seems to be a better design all the way around.

I have had many problems with this machine. It is VERY temperamental: turns on but never heats up, heats up but doesn't produce steam, sometimes it doesn't even turn on at all!!! This morning, because of yet another problem with this machine, I had to dust off my espresso maker that I have had since COLLEGE and that little, inexpensive machine STILL works better than my bells-and-whistles delonghi. I would NEVER recommend this headache to anyone.