Customer Reviews

Saeco Vienna Digital SuperAutomatic Espresso Coffee and Cappuccino Machine

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was lucky enough to have a [money] gift certificate just before Valentine's Day, so I thought this would make the perfect gift for my espresso-loving wife. We unpacked it and placed it on the counter and plugged it in. The water container was filled with nearly 60 ounces of good bottled cajun water, and part of one of the two bags of supplied beans was placed in the hopper (about 3/4 of a pound fit). Then we turned it on and lo and behold, the LCD said "Dregdraw, Miss." Naturally, we were stumped, 'cause that's not what the included VCR tape or booklet said we'd see. Being in Louisiana, we thought it referred to a town in neighboring Mississippi; not exactly. Checking through the trouble shooting section of the convenient 5 language manual, I found it means the little drawer on the side that holds the discarded grounds (dregs?) was not firmly in place. A little tug on it and the LCD said it was ready to go! We selected a large cup (American) and pressed the button; the grinder whirred and mechanical things happened and in 30 seconds we had a fresh cup of coffee. It was a little too weak for our chicory-loving selves, so we dialed up the brew strength and selected a medium (Espresso) and it was much more to our liking. We then placed some cream in the pitcher and pressed the froth button; in another 30 seconds we had frothed cream to spare. The coffee was delicious and once you've read the manual, it's pretty simple and fully automatic. Cleaning is definitely made simple by its modular design & several self-cleaning features. It looks very good (I'd have said great were it stainless instead of medium grade plastic) and it feels pretty well made. It is going to get a lot of use I'm sure, as one button pressed at your leisure will get you a steaming cup of your favorite brew in no time flat...

overall i absolutely love the coffee, but the machine is somewhat high maintenance. The thermostat burnt out a month after i bought it, and it took Saeco 6 weeks to repair it. It worked well for almost two years after that, and it looks like the thermostat died on me again. I'm sending it to local authorized repair place but i have no idea how much it'll cost.
Overall- maintenance is time-consuming and expensive but the coffee is wonderful.
However, a $750 coffeemaker should not break at least once a year.
update 2 years later: the second repair was almost $200- the thermostat burnt out. This time it was out of pocket since it was nounder warranty. It worked for 4 months after that- and lo and behold, the thermotat went again. I ended up trashing the machine and getting a new one. What can i say, i love the coffee :)
I've had the new one for a year, and the LED display is starting to burn out. If this one dies i'm going to try Jura Capresso.

Excellent engineering and quality. I have had the analogous machine for 2+ years and it's still running strong. Makes great coffee with no hassle. FANTASTIC product.

Having owned regular Espresso machines from Solis, I was skeptical about the so called SuperAutomatics. But I hated the mess the regular espresso machines made (grinding the coffee, dumping the grounds etc). I was also skeptical whether you could tune the superautomatics to the point where you could get a good shot of espresso since thats the most important part of a good drink.

I got the Saeco Superautomatic and I was very pleased with it, there are 18 grind settings so you can get the right grind. A good shot of espresso should take between 12-14 seconds. If it comes too fast its weak or too slow its bitter. With the Saeco you can adjust it, you can also adjust the amount of coffee that comes out.

The Steaming wand has this plastic sleeve called the Panerello, it really helps in getting the thick velvety foam thats so important to making a good Cappuccino. As any true Cappuccino lover knows you don't pour milk and scoop foam over it like all the dummies at Starbucks do (they do need lots of training, all they do is push buttons and act yuppy), you actually scoop the foam and the milk combined to make a creamy cappuccino.

There are some minor annoyances, you will find that the water reservoir tends to be a bit small and you have to check to make sure you have not run out of water. It also makes a fairly loud noise when its making the espresso (the tamping and the dumping etc).

Check the following each time you make an espresso:

1) Check the container holding the used coffee grounds to see if its time to dump it, it can get full pretty quickly depending on how much you are using the machine.
2) Check the water level
3) Check the coffee beans to make sure there are enough.

I liked it so much I bought one for my sister, she likes it a lot as well. We use coffee from a private roaster, anything other than Charbucks coffee would work fine. Peet's is a good alternative.

Please buy Fair Trade coffee, that way the poor farmers are getting a decent price. Did you know that coffee farmers get 10-12 cents for every dollar, and the chains like Starbucks who also roast and sell the coffee make 80-85 cents per dollar.

great machine! well worth the money. i had previously owned a krups, which leaked and was inconsistent. the saeco, however, is very easy to use and clean. guests always compliment my coffee making skills but it's really all to do with the machine.

UPDATE: This is the ONE thing my ex (now divorced almost 6 years) and I fought over in our divorce back in 2003. Such a Seattle thing - fighting in a divorce over a superb coffee machine! BTW, he got it, I lost it. :-(

This is, by far, the most wonderful coffee maker I've ever invested in. It does regular european style coffee, is fully adjustable to amount of coffee dispensed, and truly does taste like the coffee I used to get in cafes in Germany. Be very careful when using the steamer nozzle - if you turn it up too high, the cover'll pop right off into whatever you're steaming (from all the pressure).

I don't know if this is a burr grinder or not. All I know is I pour in the beans, put in the water, let it cycle through a rinse (does this automatically when you turn it on), then have it fix my coffee.

This machine is a dream come true for the coffee drinker, i can make just one cup of coffee any time of day or night, it is very easy to use and very stylish. I recommend it to any one especially if you are a very peeky coffee drinker.

Sounds like everything I need to upgrade my old Gaggia . . . but it is 1/2 inch too tall to fit on my counter under the cabinets in my new kitchen!

If you go to aabreecoffee.com you can see all the saeco machines desccribed in detail. It says this one has a burr grinder. I actually have the Magic Deluxe, and love it, but I am buying this one for my parents for Christmas.

Can someone please write a review and tell me if this product has a burr grinder or a blade grinder? This machine has darn near every feature I want and I'm really thinking of getting it! Thank you.