Customer Reviews

Saeco Vienna Superautomatica Espresso Coffee and Cappuccino Machine

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

There's a lot to like about this machine. It is definitely a fast and fuss-free way to brew good espresso. Doubtless you'll increase your espresso intake, so stock up on some good beans before you buy the Vienna!

Brewing involves setting the desired grind (from a coarseness setting of 0 to 18, but more on this later), amount of water (1 to 5 oz.), and whether you'd like one or two cups (these are true cups -- if you select two, the machine fully cycles through twice). You then press a button to begin the wonderful process of delivering a good cup or two of espresso. After about 30 seconds of a variety of noises and internal happenings, you're ready to drink.

However, this process may disappoint those who like additional control over their brewing. If you like to change types of beans, you'll find it a frustrating endeavor to determine how many beans to pour into the hopper to deliver just one cup. For example, should you desire to switch to decaf espresso and you've left any caffeinated beans in the hopper, there's nothing to be done about it. Once the beans are in the hopper, the way to get them out is to grind and brew them. If you're the type that always uses the same beans, none of this is an issue. I like to vary the beans I use, and the Vienna is making it difficult for me.

While the burr grinder does a great job in terms of consistency and without "burning" the beans, its settings ranging from 0 (finest) to 18 (most coarse) are somewhat superfluous. The owner's manual states that normal settings should range from 6 to 10. I have found that a setting of anything less than 4 results in an inconsistent rate of espresso flow through the brewing outspouts, or a very slow flow. Unfortunately, a setting of 4 does not yield a fine enough grind for my tastes.

The capacity of the water tank is on the smallish side. I find myself replenishing the water supply more often than I'd like.

For all its automation, the unit itself is easy to clean, primarily because the entire brewing chamber is accessible by swinging the entire front of the unit open. Next, one only has to depress a small lever to remove the parts in need of extra cleaning attention.

Previously I owned a DeLonghi and a Briel espresso machine, both being in the [$$$]price range. Both made great espresso for an unacceptably short time (about 1.5 years). While the Vienna has a plasticy feel, it is a heavy ABS plastic, and I could not justify the considerable additional cost of the steel versions of this machine. I am hoping this machine lasts a lot longer. USA warranty is 12 months, extended to 18 months once your warranty card is mailed to Saeco. Citizens of the European Union enjoy a 2 year warranty.

Crema is important to me, and in this area, the Vienna has been a slight disappointment. It does produce crema, but no more than my cheaper machines (when they were working). The same can be said for the frothing wand, which is no more effective than my [$$$] machines either. I have tried various beans and grinds but have not been able to get the crema to where I'd like.

Overall, this is a great machine at a good price. The automation it offers is a welcome relief to the messy manual procedure. Some experimentation may be required to work around the automation and produce the custom taste you may be looking for. However, control freaks may wish to purchase a standard machine and pass this automated beauty by.

I purchased this machine two years ago, after extensive research on espresso machines (which you are probably doing now, if you're reading this). I decided specifically on the vienna "superautomatica" and felt justified in when it ran strong for the first year. We're talking 2 cups a day for both my husband and myself, I drink mine with two shots and he drinks his with three, so 10 shots/day - IF we didn't have company! The machine makes great espresso, a nice crema, easy to clean, yada yada yada. All the stuff I thought was important.

Then one day the machine didn't heat up. I'm waiting... and waiting... and never again does that handy blinking light tell me my machine is heated up and ready to brew. No big deal, we were bound to break it with all our "espresso drinking". I was just glad I had sent in the special card that extended my warranty to 18 months. We're in the 16the month. Cutting it close. I'll just call the 1-800 # provided in my paperwork. And I'll call again and again. And still I will not speak to a real person but rather leave message after message to be returned by nobody.

So, here we are after the warranty's expiration. No biggie. I'm not broke and I LOVED this machine. I'll get it fixed, right? Nope. I live in a fairly populated area and yet there are no repair facilities for Saeco machines. Okay, I'm handy enough... pretty sure it's the heating element, I'll just order parts!! Nope. After much research, I have realized that the only people who repair OR provide parts for Saeco machines are... you guessed it! The people on the other end of that mysterious 1-800#.

The moral of the story is: before you buy this WONDERFUL machine (or any other) from this RESPECTED company (or any other) do a handy little internet search for repair facilities and availability for parts for that partical brand. Otherwise you'll be buying ANOTHER wonderful machine every couple years!

My Saeco is still working fine and producing good results for the price. I've learned a few things that may help your ownership experience:

1) If you're in North America call the Saeco main number and ask for support. They can give you some cleaning documents via email that will help you go through the cleaning procedure. You need to keep up with the cleaning or the small passage between the grinder and the "brew group" plugs up, particularly if you use dark roast coffee. The manual that comes with the machine is pretty close to useless.

2) Use filtered water and you can skip the descaling process. I've had a lot of problems trying to run the special formula through it and my local dealer claims it's unecessary since I've always used filtered water.

3) I would probably buy the deluxe model because it has a dual heater for steaming. For doing things a little quicker with this model I heat to steam first, do the steaming and then flip back to coffee and run water out the steaming wand to cool it down.

4) The water tank leaked after a few years but the service folks shipped me a new one for a few bucks and it solved the problem. I have ordered a collection of gaskets just to have around--parts seem to be in and out of stock.

All in all the machine requires a little more maintenance than I hoped but so far it is still producing. The folks on the phone in the US are quite helpful. It is built with a lot of plastic so you have to be somewhat careful--I broke a water tank just dropping it on the floor and my "brew group" is cracked for the same reason.

I've owned this machine for more than 2 years and it continues to be one of my most prized possesions.

Even though this is considered to be a "cheap" or low end machine, most people are astonished to hear I spent 400 bucks on a cofee maker (after all that's what it does regardless of what you call it or how well it does it!) and I personally consider it to be extravagant. Be that as it may, I can't think of any purchase I've ever been more satisisfied with!

I read the other review on this site and had to add that the machine has remained serviceable with only the most rudimentary maintanance( I assume anyone who loves esspresso enough to fork over this kind of dough wouldn't grudge a half hour a week to thoroughly clean the mechanism, or the inconveniance of always filtering the water...Britta filters have worked fine.)On top of that,if anything the quality of the finished product has improved over time.

I can't think of any mechanical device I've ever owned that gets this much use that hasn't needed some kind of repair, and I'm famous for being very hard on my stuff.

Also, I live in New york and my home borough, the Bronx is litered with mom&pop esspresso bars; And I'm no stranger to little Italy & the village ,and wherever I go there's always Starbucks: so I get to try a lot of differnt espresso. And I can't say that I've ever been dissapointed by the crema. In fact when normal coffee drinkers visit and I brew them a cup of coffee with it they are generally amazed at the crema on top of their cup, and I have to worry that I'm being a bore when I explain what crema is!
In fact that's one of the real charms of this machine: being able to brew a cup of american coffee with a real Italian flair at the touch of a button.
I imagine the motors for the pump and the grinder have to wear out eventually, so it has to die someday. Even though I must say it hasn't been a gradual decay. And I put around a pound and a half of beans a week through it at the very least.

I admit that I have to agree that it is a bit of a drag that you can't easily change what beans you're using from cup to cup, especially since my wife drinks only decaf (yuck!)and I wish there was a way to make froth for cappucino at the same time as the esspresso's brewing but after all this is a home/non professional machine.

So, if you love coffee, are kinda lazy, and want a no brainer; this little jammy's definitely the ticket!

I got this machine 2 years ago as a gift and to this day its been the best gift I have ever received. I really got hooked on drinking grand café while spending ten days in Paris. I was so used to watered down Mr. Coffee style coffee every morning and when I came back to the US, I couldn't stand it, I needed the French grand café.

In two years the machine broke once, where it would stop grinding. Saeco USA literally fixed it in a day and it was out of possesion for only a week or so mostly due to transportation time.

Highly recommend this unit to anyone who loves the pure taste of coffee and doesnt want to spend $5 a day at one of the chain coffee places.

When I first used the machine I was very pleased. I made roughly 20 shots per day on the weekends and about 4 per day during the week.

The machine functioned well for a while, then after a few months the grinder began to go nuts. There is a small plastic flapper at the end of the grind chamber that is supposed to turn the grinder off when the grind chamber is full and trigger the machine to dump the grinds into the brew group. Sometimes the flapper performed and sometimes not. When the flapper didn't work the machine would continue to grind until one shut off the power or it ground up all of the beans in the hopper. Then a messy clean up was in order to remove all the grinds from the machine.

I tried to remedy the condition as best as I could, then one day when the machine was about 10 months old I had enough. In the big green can it went.

Loved the machine at first, ended up hating it. I will not travel the Saeco road again.

...to keep this brief:
+ makes best coffee i ever drank anywhere in the world
+ try and get swiss grain to tweak the flavour to the max
+ had a superautomatica for 10(!) years now without ever needing technical assistance or even a screwdriver
+ if it had a carrying handle, i would take it with me wherever i roam

! clean all removable parts frequently, mechanics once a fortnight, to maximize lifetime and working 100% all the time
! clean the steam muzzle instantly after each use, else you will have ugly milk foam sediments before long

I have had this machine since May 2002, My husband and I LOVE it. We used it all the time until it started leaking. We brought it to the service center for repair (in NJ) and after 3 months it was finally fixed..The cost to repair it was 1/2 of what we origionally paid for it. My suggestion would be that after several years use...buy another and dont repair it.

When Amazon finally delivered the machine, it produced very reliable coffee. The machine works quickly and efficiently. The only downside is that it makes more noise than I thought it would.

I live in Europe where this is a very popular brand. We have one in the office that goes through one package of coffee beans a day (500 grams). It has not missed a beat in over three months. That equates to about seven years of my use without a failure, at about 1/2 kilo per month.

Based on that I bought one for home use. It makes excellent coffee. If there is a down side, it is that our coffee use is up. Not sure if it is because the machine uses more coffee than the dir or we are just drinking more?

UPDATE: Returned from Europe in Oct 2003. The first item my wife and I bought, even before the house was a, 120VAC Saeco Vienna. It has operated flawlessly for four years. Our friends in Europe who purchased our first Saeco are using it without a problem and love it. I would recommend this product to any coffee lover... nrk