Need help to get started

[Nicke]

Hi!

New to the whole homeespresso thing. But since i've been spending quite much money on lattes and espressos on cafés last months i thought maybe bying my own equippment wasn't such a bad idea.

Now for about a month i've been surfing different coffe sites and been looking for a good espresso machine to start with.
I found coffegeeks rewiev on the Solis SL 70 and it seemd to be really good. But then i can't really find a good internet store to buy it from =/

So now I found this nice forum and I'm sure you guys can help me to find a good machine to order from within EU or even better to by in sweden.

My budget is quite slim and for the moment i'm just looking for a espresso machine and then when there is more money buy a reasonable grinder.
Is it even possible to get a good machine for about €290 ??

[zix]

Gaggia is good value if you think aluminium boilers are OK. They have the gaggia Evolution for around 2500SEK I think, available on Verner&Verner and many other places. It is like the Gaggia Classic but with plastic on the outside - sounds good to me, but I have not heard anything about how the Evolution performs in the long run, if they have had any problems with that particular model or anything like that.
The Gaggia consumer machine portafilters are good. Pro sized, 58mm, which is unusual among consumer machines under 600 Euro (OK, the Rancilio Silvia has good portafilters too - goes for around 600+ Euro in Sweden). This is good, because it helps temp stability.

[Nicke]

Okay, yea i went to Verner&Verner and checked that machine out last week.
But i can't really say it's a good price since the solis sl 70 is priced rougly the same but with a brass boiler and chrome plated brass portafilter. Allthough not comercial sized portafilter.

I havn't got the hang of the whole aluminium boiler stuff. How fast is the corrosion process and is there an alarming amount of aluminium that goes into the water?

[kingseven]

The aluminium boiler thing - the main problem is that you can trash it if you don't use the right descaler on it.
As for health - first of all its Grade A aluminium and secondly the link between aluminium (of a low grade) and Alzheimers has been officially denied by the Alzheimers Assosciation (so I was told by a guy who had been looking into it - I really should double check)

[PeterAG]

Nicke
In addition to the dissolved aluminium salts in the water, there are alot of other metals in contact with the boiler so it is more of an electolytic soup. Much depends on how much you or your loved ones consider this a hazard. My lady wife has junked all our Al saucepans because the health worries. She OKd the Dualit 84009, all stainless boiler etc on health grounds, also got a good price in Costco at Enfield £170, the maket price being over the £300 mark. Typical Dualit constuction very simple very sturdy very efficient, Best of luck, keep us informed, home roasting is a good lark also.
Regards
Peter

[zix]

Well, well, well. Have a look at this:

Gaggia boilers are half alu, half brass:
http://coffeegeek.com/forums/espresso/machines/63000#63000

Depending on water softness, this may cause corrosion (sorry, long thread):
archived alt.coffee thread
image of corroded Gaggia Evolution boiler:
http://www.waawa.cx/noindex/gaggia/boiler2.jpg

The Göteborg water is soft, right? Naaahhh, I don´t think I would go for a Gaggia, considering... It´s too bad, really.

[Nicke]

Well, in Umeå we have soft water(alkanity 60mg/l), have no idea how this affects the aluminium but read that its great for coffee making. I suppose the harder the water is the more aluminium corrodes since there are more stuff to react with.

Im currently in a mailing process with Solis and one of their resellers to see if the solis is availible at the same reasonable price here in europe.
Anyone who thinks the solis sl 70 is a bad choice?? would love to hear what the experts have to say about the machine.

UPDATE:
Got an answer from solis scandinavian partner Kingscup.
They had the solis SL 70 priced at 2150 SEK (roughly €237) wich is cheaper than every other store i've seen selling the solis machine