Since enjoying a few espressos at a cooking class I attended in Paris, I have been looking for a single-cup machine that: 1) was not going to require me to mortgage my house to pay for it; 2) the coffee/espresso had to have a *good* crema; and 3) it had to have a good variety of coffees and drinks available and cheap enough to make it worth the purchase (that they are not in a plastic container is a big plus too!) This machine fulfilled my criteria easily over the other machines. Every cup of coffee is hot, whipped up fast and has that all important crema I was really after! The price was decent although I've seen it go down about $14 in the 2 weeks since I've made my purchase. It takes up no more room on the counter than my drip coffee maker. I've had no issues with plastic smells or tastes. No clogging. I use bottle water, so that might be helping?? I also like the fact that you can purchase a coffeeduck for this machine if you want to use your own coffee. I have found a variety of flavors either here on Amazon, eBay or Javapodz.com. My favorite coffees so far are the Breakfast Blend and Espresso, but all the flavors end with that nice frothy crema that lasts from the first sip to the last! YUM!