Customer Reviews

Francis!Francis! 201112 X1 Ground Espresso Machine, Red

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

 

 

We bought this based on info about how good the construction was. Paid about $600 over four years ago.(from another website) We only used it on the weekends and really enjoyed it. About six months after the one year warranty expired so did the machine! As soon as we plug it in the GFCI blows. There is some kind of short in it and the only place that repairs them is in Oregon or Seattle. So there it sits, for over two years, collecting dust. Very, very dissapointed in the machine.

What a disappointment! I have to admit I go for looks. The FFx1 had it all. Or so I thought. Looks are not everything - I have learned, when it comes to espresso machines. THis is a work of art, but after 1 year of great lattes, it stopped working. Called the company- they said to descale. Well I"ve descaled and descaled - still doesn't work. Paid alot of money for it and now have to shop for another more functional and reliable machine.

I inherited my x1 in pistachio from my mom when she changed up her kitchen and got the stainless one. It's birthday was March 2001 and has never had any problems in the 10 years it's been in my family. It makes a fantastic cup with creama and froths milk very well. I always use ground coffee, but it also can take ESE pods from illy. We both love the machines.

One thing I will say is that it is good to use a kitchen wax on the painted models, as with any painted metal appliance [i.e. kitchen aids] as rust can occur near the joints and the wax can keep water from getting through invisible cracks in the paint and cause surface puckering, rust building up under the finish kind of like on a car.

For a really in depth reveiw of this type of machine I really recommend Jeffery Steingartens essay "Explaining Espresso" in his book 'it must have been something I ate" he covers most popular models, including the X1, and it's a good read.

and to end on a note of vanity, this is seriously the coolest looking machine, and your friends will think you have awesome taste

I have had my machine for two years and it has operated flawlessly the whole time. I do proper maintenance and descale with Cleancaf regularly. The company was fine to work with when my wife ground up the tamper/shower accessory in the garbage disposal. They dispatched out a new one in a couple of days.

I had the previous version of this machine and it provided for stronger, less "watery" coffee. The coffee pressing devise of the machine enters too much into the coffee holding pot, thus permitting less quantity of ground coffee into it.

This espresso machine is beautiful to look at, but if it can't even produce one cup of espresso, what's the point? The machine's pump didn't appear to work from the start...it was very noisy when I turned it on and when it went through it's warm up cycle, it immediately gave a rapid beeping signal, which according to the manual required troubleshooting. The trouble shooting options did nothing, so I contacted the manufacturer who agreed it was an out of box failure and should be returned. This performance really caused me to lose all faith in this product, so I will be looking for a different brand.

This is all looks and no quality.

First time we turned it on, the green light kept blinking and beeping rapidly. Followed the troubleshooting. After THREE attempts, finally got that resolved.

In the middle of frothing for the first cup of cappuccino, the frother just stopped working. It did not seem to be drawing any water to create steam. Followed all of the troubleshooting steps -- no luck.