Customer Reviews

Saeco Easy Fill 12-Cup Automatic Drip Coffee Maker, Stainless Steel

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

I had tried three different machines before purchasing this one, and I am completely satisfied with it. The equivalent Cuisinart machine, which has excellent ratings on Amazon and elsewhere was a huge disappointment: the place where you fill the water is this tiny area on the back right of the machine when you lift off the cover...getting the water in there at 5AM when I am half asleep was NOT easy. That is why that machine went back to the store. Then I tried the Krups, and thought is was a little better, i.e. the space to get water in was somewhat larger, it was still not ideal, and after a couple of days the indicater for how much water is in the tank seemed to have air bubbles in it so the reading was completely inaccurate. I tried to refill a number of times and put unit upside down...but could not fixt the bubble problem, so that one went back to the store. Then I tried the Kitchenaid coffee maker with the romovable water tank...great idea and super easy, BUT, this coffee machine had a basket filter area and not cone, and I almost overflowed the filter area making only 7 cups of coffee (because we like our coffee strong). There is NO WAY I could have made the full 12 cups with that machine. The Saeco has removable tank and cone filter and is super-easy to use, very quiet, it's a front loader so you don't have to pull out the machine every time you make coffee...I am extremely satisfied with its design and performance...I have had it for a month now and thought I would write a review because it only had one!! I highly recommend this coffee maker!!

Bought Saeco Easy Fill coffeemaker to replace another brand w/ same features (don't have to move coffeemaker from under cabinets) that quit working after 5 months. Waited a couple weeks for it to be released - pretty happy so far. Just made my 2nd cup w/ the Saeco: machine has been on for an hour and coffee is HOT. Directions in manual aren't very clear, but it was fairly easy to figure everything out. Push a button on the front and the water/coffee "hopper" pulls out of machine. Fill w/ water, set on counter and fill w/ coffee, put back in machine & hit "start". Comes w/ permanent filter, but I've never liked those: even the manual says you'll end up w/ grounds in the carafe. I didn't realize it took "cone" filters, and I have about 200 "basket" style left: I just lifted out the permanent filter, put a basket filter under it, re-inserted permanent one, and filled w/ coffee. Machine is really quiet too, no gurgling and sighing! This is the first pot of coffee I've brewed, so brand reliability is still in question (never heard of Saeco before), but I'm pleased so far. Can't believe more companies aren't designing coffeemakers that can stay put under the cabinet!!
UPDATE: Have now had Saeco coffeemaker for a couple of months. Still very pleased. LOVE that it beeps when coffee's done brewing (for those times I get busy and forget I started it), and beeps again when it shuts off (so I can get one last cup while it's still hot - and it's still hot after 2 hours!). So far the ONLY thing I don't like is when I pull the hopper out to empty the grounds there are drops of water on it that inevitably roll onto the floor/counter. Not a huge deal if you're careful, and it's only a few drops. Could easily be solved if they changed the design to slope the top of it slightly towards the center. That is honestly the ONLY thing I don't like about this machine. Very satisfied, definitely recommend it! Thank you Saeco!!!

We have had item for only 3 months. First problem was the spring loaded basket broke and needed to be replaced. Intermitantly the electronics go haywire and the unit has to be unplugged to reset. The carafe has beenl leaking around the rim and is now being replaced. On the plus side Saeco customer service has been very responsive and quickly replaced coffee basket and is now replacing the carafe.

A great coffee maker with clock, timer, and auto shut off. The novel concept behind this coffee maker is that the water holding tank is included in the basket system for the coffee. It allows you to fill the coffee maker with up to 12 cups worth of water without having to pull the maker out from under your cabinets, the way you do with traditional top loading coffee makers.

The coffee maker holds 12 cups of water. There is a gold cone basket included. This way you do not have to buy any additional paper coffee filters, ever.

The unit has a clock with a timer. You can set and wake up to fresh hot coffee. After an hour, the unit shuts off so you won't have to worry about going back home to turn off your coffee maker.

It also has a burner temperature adjustment so you can control how hot the burner is, keeping your coffee either luke warm, or very hot.

The unit brews the coffee at the right temperature for coffee, and freshly brewed coffee is piping hot.

It also has a pause and serve feature that allows you to remove the glass carafe part way though brewing to steal a cup of coffee.

There are dozens and dozens of choices for a coffee maker. So I will review what I like about the Saeco that I haven't found in previous coffee makers. But first the most important point. Does it produce good tasting coffee? Yes it does. And can you program it to have your coffee ready for you in the morning. Yes you can. Without those basics, really no need to consider this machine.

What Saeco has added to those basics I really like. First you can keep the machine tucked under your cabinents and do everything you need by pulling things out. Very nice feature. Second it looks great. We have stainless steel and black applicances in our kitchen and it fits right in. Third it has a chlorine filter and I think it does make a difference in taste and less bitterness. Couple of last nifty features, there are three different temperature settings for keeping your coffee warm and there is an 'aroma' feature for brewing small amounts of coffee, 1-4 cups.

All together these are neat features. I waited to write my review to see if I had any of the error problems mentioned by some earlier reviewers. After a month and half the unit has continued to produce good tasting coffee.

Isn't our little computerized world funny? Used to be a coffee maker either made good coffee, or not. Now it's does the chip malfunction? Is the beep too loud? Does the display make sense? Etc etc.

In short: good coffee. That's the main thing. Carbon water filter is a nice touch if your water isn't pre-filtered (if you want great java it should be). Front loading, very nice. Carafe top without hinge, not so good. Haven't gotten the dreaded EEEE error; I assume Saeco fixed that and then vined this out to get better reviews than last year's many complaints about the computer errors. Alarm works fine, but is indeed LOUD. For those in other rooms this could be a bonus, though.

All in all: worth getting if you need your coffee pre-made when you wake up, like to drink 12 cups, and have plenty of counter space for this Winnebago of a coffeee maker.

PS Rumors that any basic off-brand French press plus some boiling water make better joe at a third of the price, without any computer involvement or loud noises, are possibly unconfirmed.

There are two ways to judge whether a machine makes a good coffee. It's tasty and you love it, or it sucks. Well, this one is tasty so it passes my coffee test.

Now, if you are looking for all the bells and whistles that come with a high quality (over $500) machine, this one won't disappoint, although it'll take you a bit of time to learn how to program it and get used to it. Some reviewers have reported malfunction in its software (i.e. 4AM alarm from the machine with an error), but I haven't had that happen to me yet.

Consider this machine for your office, where at least 12 cups of coffee would be consumed within an hour of making it. Since there is no sense in overcooking a tasty brew, this machine is an excellent source of fresh cups of Joe for at least 6 people at a time (2 cups of coffee per person). For a family of 4, with only 2 drinking coffee (let's assume your little ones below age 14 are not big on coffee in the AM), this machine would be a monster.

Regardless, I liked the coffee taste and it serves my purpose.

Since coffee ranks among the top 1 thing I have to have in the morning, coffee makers that can deliver the nectar more quickly or more easily are winners. This had features that I really liked, some that I thought were handy and easy to use and a couple that were a little annoying, but as a whole it was a really good fit for me and a recommend.

I absolutely loved that I could stick it in the corner of my counter top under my cabinets and it stayed there. It's a nice heavy coffee maker, so when I pulled out the front-loading water reservoir/coffee basket, the unit didn't slide around at all. It's also a pretty large unit - my normal/average sized former coffee maker was probably only two-thirds of the size of this, so even in the corner of my counter, this filled the space and I wasn't leaning to reach it.

The water reservoir was simple to fill. It has a flip top to prevent spillage and a carbon filter to purify the water if you want that option. The coffee basket uses a #4 cone filter, although my Melitta filters don't fit perfectly in it, they're a little too big and ripple around a bit. The instructions say you don't need to use a filter (but warns you may end up with grounds in the carafe) and I tried a few pots without it. The coffee came out perfectly well, no grounds. So it seems fine with or without.

The clock, timer, heat and warming settings were all very simple to set (the included instructions are really clear) and work well. I use the highest heat setting (120 degrees) and it definitely gets that hot. I've only used the warmer feature a few times since I go through the pot fast, but the coffee never did end up tasting bitter.

There were a couple of things that bothered me enough to drop this from five stars to four: the carafe has a pop off top rather than a hinge. I'm assuming it's that way in order to save space, since things are pretty tight between the basket and the carafe. When the top sits on the carafe, it does snap in pretty securely as of now, but I do worry that in a year or so, it might not be so tight and since it's black it makes it even harder to see the way black coffee is coming out of it. I don't want to be pouring my coffee and end up with a lap full of it because the lid to the carafe flew off. At least with a hinge, I might have some control if I see it tipping towards me.

The other thing (and this is more bothersome) is the really awful beeping the machine does when the brew cycle finishes and again when the heat cycle turns off. It gives five short shrill beeps that are louder than my microwave which really isn't a good thing since I tend to make my first pot when I get up at 4:00 in the morning and everyone else is asleep. I almost could deal with the five beeps at the end of the brew cycle, but why it beeps again when it turns off the heat cycle is really befuddling. Or maybe vice versa.

I do still recommend the coffee maker in spite of my small issues because I love the way it can sit on the counter top, it's simple to use and as I sit here drinking one, can say it brews a nice cup of coffee.

We were initially happy with the coffee and the excellent pouring capability this carafe offered. Sadly the happiness dribbled away when I was woken up twice at around 4 am with the stupid alarm going off incessantly and an error message on the screen. It wasn't even programmed to go on at a certain time in the morning. So I returned it and got a replacement, only to have the exact same problem happen- though at a different time of day. The only solution was to unplug the unit and replug it when we wanted to turn it on manually. But then the REAL fun started with Pot #2! It now shuts off and sounds its alarm in the middle of the brewing cycle. The coffee in the carafe stays cold, while the rest of it is stuck in the filter area. Then the water overflows and grounds go all over the place. It's a miserable mess. Don't buy this!! I may switch to teabags as soon as I return this miserable contraption.

Our first coffee pot... did have the clock issues... the EEEE error message.. and it did go off in the middle of the night... but Amazon is great on returns.. it was super easy to do.... no problems there.... sent out the new pot right away.... and the old one was picked up right away also.

The new pot we received.. has been excellent.. no issues with the clock... the pull out drawer, fills with water and has the coffee grounds in it... so no more pulling out the coffee pot from under the cabinets anymore ... (our previous pot was a saeco also) and is still running.. but we wanted the easy fill feature. and are really happy with it.
We are very happy with this coffee pot..

This a.m. 12/27.. woke up to the beeping again.. so.. I'm not sure if it's gone defective on us again....
love the design of this pot... just wished the clock worked and would stay working.

12/31 - woke up to beeping.. pot is going back... still want the design feature.. so going to try the one with the thermal carafe..... hoping clock will be diff.

shipped back the 2nd one...
tried the same model with thermal carafe..... leaks..... think that one is going back too....