Customer Reviews

Sunbeam HDX23 Heritage Design 12-Cup Programmable Coffeemaker

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I have owned this about 6 months now, and I couldn't be happier! Design and performance are great. I LOVE all of its conveniences, from the removable water reservoir (no more awkward reaching, pouring, or spilling), to the permanent filter with removable (and very easy to clean) basket. The "shower head" sprayer that "brews" the coffee works wonderfully, creating a full-bodied brew. And finally, it looks awesome on the counter. We get compliments quite frequently.

Some people have mentioned that it doesn't have a lot of high end features, but it has all the ones I'll ever need. For example, it has the "pause and pour" feature so you can sneak a cup during brewing. It also has a very interesting clock with a timer on the front (which doesn't reset every time there's a glitch in the power).

I contemplated getting an insulated carafe-style coffee maker for a while...until I realized they don't have warming plates, and you can't see how much coffee is inside (this is important when desperate for the first cup, and for knowing how much is left). Friends with the insulated style have told me that their coffee comes out cooler than they would like, because it is being stored in a cold vessel that steals quite a bit of its initial heat. I have since learned that it's a good idea to heat up insulated carafes ahead of time with hot water. But, having to do that would make the timer feature pretty useless. So, in the end, I decided to go with a regular glass carafe and warming plate, and I purchased a separate insulated carafe that I can use as needed. This seems to fulfill all my coffee needs!

On a side note, there is another "HDX23" listed on Amazon, but the picture is of a Mr. Coffee machine, and the descriptions and reviews do not match up. I'm pretty sure that there is a lot of confusion about that one, and as a result, I would not trust the reviews listed there. The Sunbeam HDX23 looks exactly as the one pictured above, and it is a great machine.

I went through a lot of coffee makers in my life.I got it 3 months ago. Hands down, this is the best coffee maker for the money. It's simple to use. You don't need the carafe to fill in the water, it has a removable water container on the back. The coffee tastes great and it's hot. It also looks great for a coffee maker. Finally somebody had some brains on designing a coffee maker that doesn't brake the bank. And should you be wondering, no I don't work for Sunbeam, I'm just exited about what I bought.

I've been through it with coffeemakers in the past few years. It makes me long for the 1980s when I had a Braun that was just about perfect. Anyway, I had a Gevalia, but that was total junk. The coffee was weak and full of grounds. I also had a Cuisinart that was cheap (in quality, not price) and broke off a piece in the first month and then leaked.

I love the design of this one. It's got a retro look that's very appealing to me. I love the toggle switch and the chrome accents. It also feels sturdy and appears to be very well designed. Very nice craftsmanship.

It makes a good cup of coffee--isn't that what it's all about?--and is easy to use. I love the water reservoir because I hate pouring water into something where I can't read the gauges.

The only downside is that there do appear to be some grounds in the pot. The permanent filter (it comes with it which is a great idea) seems to be working, but maybe that's the flaw.

All in all, I'm very happy with this coffeemaker, but only time will tell. It seems I've got some bad coffeemaker karma.

UPDATE: After a little more than a month, the coffee pot has started to leak. For some unknown reason, it no longer allows me to remove the pot before the brewing cycle has finished. I still like the look of the machine, but I'm disappointed in this latest development.

My husband ordered the Sunbeam HDX23 Heritage Design 12-Cup Programmable Coffeemaker through Amazon, after I'd blown my top repeatedly over my 4-months new Cuisanart DCC-1100, purchased at an upscale department store.

The difference between the two is on the Grand Canyon scale.

The Cuisinart - white to match my yellow and white kitchen (never again!) - had a built in water filter, which I didn't need, and that was the best feature. The lid to the carafe had no hinge, and I had to pry it off the carafe each time I used it. There was no possible way to pour water into the coffee maker without making a mess on the counter. Every day, water splashed onto the counter. Because I didn't manage to wipe it all up each time from under the unit, I eventually noticed near permanent rust rings forming on my counter top. Cuisanart, for some inexplicable reason, had added a metal disk on the bottom of the coffee maker, and it began to rust in just a couple of weeks of use.

Worse, coffee would dribble down the inside back of the unit, displaying ugly brown dribble marks behind the carafe. I had to scrub the unit daily, and even that didn't erase the streaks of coffee.

Now, for the Sunbeam. The Sunbeam Heritage is a beautiful, beautiful design. Though it does not match my yellow and white kitchen, it is a wonderful addition. Aesthetically, it has pleasing, rounded lines, a soft, luminescent blue dial and is a pleasure to look at. It is very much like the Michael Graves coffee maker I loved before I made the mistake of buying the Cuisanart. The Sunbeam has a removable filling tank that I take to the sink and fill. It slides onto the back of the machine with ease. The filling tank has an open top, making filling easy. My old Michael Graves one had a hinged top that was a little trickier to fill, so this is even better. I allow the faucet to run into the open filling tank while preparing the coffee grounds.

The unit has a lower profile than the Cuisanart, too. Steam from the Cuisanart regularly endangered the bottom surface of my cupboards because there was a quarter-inch clearance and steam vents on the top of the coffee maker. The Sunbeam has at least an inch of clearance and no steam pouring out of the top of it. The removable filling tank should be standard on every coffee maker. No more mess! The Sunbeam has a wide, shallow basket so it is easy to clean and brews evenly. The coffee comes out with a wonderful flavor. It is easy to pour. Most other coffee makers I've had were tricky to pour from without some spilling. The design on this carafe makes it easy for neat pouring. The lid is hinged. The only concern I have is with the hollow, rounded handle. It was a similar design to my beloved Michael Graves coffee maker. The handle broke on that one because the pressure of a full carafe is hard for a hollow handle to handle. But so far, so good. The retro look of the Sunbeam is great, too. It has two metal toggle switches that make setting the clock and timing feature easy. It also has a circular dial around the clock for setting time and timer that couldn't be easier to use. I am a big fan of dials. Push buttons can take forever, but dials cut through all the waiting. This unit ends frustration and instead is a huge asset in the kitchen. The price was very reasonable as well.

I bought this to replace a Krups coffee maker we had used for several years. This is the first machine I have ever used that has a basket rather than cone style filter. Like many/most cone style machines, the Krups had a separate setting for 1-3 cups -- necessary because the grinds get concentrated at the point of the cone. Because the grinds in the HDX23 basket spread out across the bottom, no separate setting for small amounts is provided or apparently needed.

The Krups was complicated to program and had various automatic signals to indicate when brewing was complete (beep) and when cleaning was needed (display). Like many similar machines I've used, filling the water tank was awkward, with spilling common.

In addition to the fact that it looks cool, the HDX23 is far more user-friendly and -- the essential point -- makes better coffee. The rotating dial makes setting time simple. The toggle switches turn on/off either auto program or brew now. The water tank is a piece of cake to fill, either by pouring water into the very wide top or by popping out the tank to fill from the tap. The warmer keeps the coffee warm for 2 hours, without burning it. And unlike the baskets in my previous Krups and Cuisinart coffee makers, the cutoff valve in the bottom this machine's basket does not drip or leak. The glass carafe is sturdier than the others' too.

The luminescent display is quite bright, which some may not like. But it is easy to read and serves usefully as a night light in the kitchen.

I prefer the relative simplicity of the design. No beeps. You can tell when brewing is done by just looking and seeing that it's done. Like most machines, you can take a cup while it's brewing anyway. The manual recommends cleaning after a certain number of cups. For us I figured out that that comes to about every 2 months or so. It does recommend using a paper filter when cleaning; I normally use the included gold-tone filter for making coffee, but a pack of paper filters only cost a couple of bucks and will serve for cleaning for years.

Overall, this is the best coffee maker I have ever owned.

Has all features we wanted. Sooo easy to set clock/delay start time. Carafe pours nicely into mug - not on counter. Only issue was with the top-loading filter lid. If placed under upper cupboards, you need about 22" from countertop to upper cupboard to open the filter lid. If you don't have that clearance, you have to slide the coffee maker out to open the top and it has 4 rubbery feet that don't slide easily on the countertop. We solved this with 3/8" self-stick felt pads (smaller versions of the felt pads you put on chair feet so they don't scratch the floor). With this fix, we love it and highly recommend.

I've been using this coffee maker for a couple years now. The first one died while still in warranty. I managed to get a replacement. The second one also died and they gave me a hard time with providing me with a replacement. It makes great coffee but is unreliable (as many coffee makers are these days). You would think that at it's price point, it would be more better!!! Apparantly the heater element or thermal switch in the heater circuit opens up. These switches are tack soldered in place and difficult, if not impossible, for most consumers adept in doing basic appliance repairs. I would suggest to the manufacturer a more robust component. We have since gone to percolating coffee on the stove.

This is a great coffee maker. Simple, (not a lot of features that you wouldn't use anyway). Like that the water holder comes out and is able to be cleaned. Nice display and design. Overall, a good value for the money (just have to see how long it lasts).

It is the excellent coffee maker to me , very quality item , with very easy operating timer setting , with portable water tank , with perfect water tempurature . I have been using this item over than a month . I had bought it at Sears store in Norfolk . I am very happy with it . I recommend it everyone who enjoy to drink coffe .

We now have two of these coffee makers (one for regular, one for decaf). The water reservoir is so easy to fill and attach to the back of the pot. It is easy to clean. GREAT coffee pot.