I've had this machine with the separate frother for around 3 years now. It still delivers a great espresso with a perfect crema. It's not as good as what I can do with my Rancilio with Peet's. But it's close enough without all the drama. I got it for my office, where I didn't want the mess, but took it home for the holidays and found it so convenient, it never went back.
The only problems have been:
1) sometimes it doesn't open the capsules correctly, so you have to open and close the bar a couple of times to make it work without wasting a capsule. This happens most with dented capsules.
2) The packaging of the capsules leaves a lot to be desired. Around 20-30% of them arrive with small dents and 5-10% have major ones. I've talked to Nestle and their only solution is to offer to take them back. I'd rather they fix the problem. Especially since one of the things that really attracted me to this system was the fact that the anodized aluminum capsules look so cool, like little jewels, when they are perfect. But when they are dented, it's like your new Ferrari after a fender bender. It may drive the same, but it's embarrassing to let anyone see you with it.
3) Frother's pretty useless because it's difficult to clean, has to be handwashed, takes to long to heat up the milk, and produces very little (just enough for a single). I'd be better to save your money, heat your milk in the microwave and use one of those $5 hand frothers.
