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which machine to buy? - 2007/10/12 14:57Hi, I'm looking for a lever machine which on ocasion will need to make 30 - 40 espresso and or caps, one after another, I was considering the Electra A3 but do not want to cut into the counter, the other machine i was considering is the Euro2000 Junior, does anyone have any experience with these or any other machine which will make great coffee and work for many years.
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colin
Admin Admin
Posts: 712
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Re:which machine to buy? - 2007/10/12 21:30The Euro2000 junior is a good home machine at 1000 dollars - but is not up for the kind of semi-commercial usage you are thinking about.
Quoting the ever impressive home-barista.com:
"The Elektra A3 is a low-volume café espresso machine that is equally attractive from all angles."
Low volume = 5 to 10 beverages an hour -- NOT 20 in a row.Colin is the Senior editor and creator of the CoffeeCrew.Com Website
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rob
Visitor
Re:which machine to buy? - 2007/10/13 06:30I'm looking for this kind of performance for only once a month type of usage, the rest of the time it will be used daily to make 2 - 4 coffee's, or is there another machine which would better suit this kind of useage?
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colin
Admin Admin
Posts: 712
Karma: 19
Re:which machine to buy? - 2007/10/13 10:40I think you would be well served to talk to the vendor directly - most of them are very honest and will not steer you into a machine that is not up to the task.
I can appreciate that you will not be over-driving the unit on a regular basis.
Think of it like this: You own a car, a Honda Civic... and once a month you drive it in a rally as if it was a Lamborghini - guess what? Even that kind of wear and tear is going to take it out prematurely.
Still - you should consult the vendor directly. Unless I have used these machines under these kinds of conditions, I cannot competently or confidently speak about their capabilities.Colin is the Senior editor and creator of the CoffeeCrew.Com Website
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Rob
Visitor
Re:which machine to buy? - 2007/10/14 13:48After reading your reply, I took your advice and went back to the euro2000 dealer and as you stated in your last reply, he was honest. He didn't use the same analigy as you did with the cars, but he got the same point accross. I was told that if I wanted a machine to last for many years I would have to go to a pro machine, which in my case is to large. He said the machine ( euro2000 )would have to be seviced on a more frequent plan and will not get the normal life expectancey out of the machine. As he did not have any machine's between the euro and the pro level he wasn't sure what machine to recomend. Thanks for the time you took to repond. I think this site is great and am glad I stumbled upon it as their is lots of info.
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Rob
Visitor
Re:which machine to buy? - 2007/10/15 14:18I've doing some more research and found that the ECM Giotto, if it can do what it say's it can do, would be what i'm looking for. do you have any experience's with this machine. Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks.
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Rob in Van
Visitor
Re:which machine to buy? - 2007/11/02 23:31I too looked at buying the ECM Giotto Premium. What I liked about it was that it had the E61 group, it was a prosumer machine, it would fit under my counter and most of all I liked the steam and hot water wand design. It also has a nickle plated boilers, something you only see on higher end commercial machines. I also liked the look of the machine, and lets be honest the way it looks is something that always influences our decision. At the end of the day I decided to purchase La Scala Butterfly Semi-Automatic. It was a few hundred dollars more and here is why. I visited a local store here in Vancouver that carried the ECM, I would say I went like 4-5 times in a period of 3 weeks. I noticed on 2 of my visits that there always seemed to be a Giotto in there for repair. In fact, during one of my visits a customer brought in their Giotto for repair, it was the 3rd time she had to bring it in since she bought it! I asked her what sort of problems she had with the machine and she mentioned that on one of her repairs they had to replace some sort of control board. The technician that was handling her paper work said to her that it was difficult for them to trouble shoot her intermittent problem, which was that the machine just turned off by itself. The sales person who was talking to me at the time told me that the problems she was experiencing was related to the fact that her machine was plumbed in. I’m sorry but I don’t see how a plumbed in machine could cause here machine to go in for repairs 3 times, but who really knows. Anyhow, I have had my La Scala for 2 months now and it has been running just great, unfortunately it does not fit under my counter The retailer who sold it to me said that they have had 7 warranty repairs on the Butterfly in the last 3 yrs and they usually sell about 400 of them a year (WOW). La Scala comes with flat panels that you can but in different colours. Hope my info helps.
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