by sicinius » Tue Nov 22, 2011 1:16 pm
If you get the Isomac, you'll be happy with it. There were, as someone points out, some issues with the first machines sold to the US but they were to do with voltages. Isomacs are made from top quality parts and steel and I'm thinking about getting mine its first service after five years hard labour. They look wonderful, they aren't fiddly and they have large waste trays and a big space below the portafilter for all your different cup styles. Temperature surfing? Don't give it a thought.
I got my Zaffiro cheap £540 from caffeitalia, supposedly with marks on the case but I never really found them. It has marks on the case now, alrighty. I was intending to upgrade to a semi pro double boiler with PiD and all the rest of the sophistication once I was sure I could master the technique.
But it still hasn't happened. These things use quite a bit of electricity and two boilers use twice as much as one. The inconvenience of not having the second boiler is minor if you only make a couple of milk drinks a day. And there's a big increase in running costs. HX is a better option but still I wouldn't jump at that. The temperature on a Zaffiro is pretty much alway right for espresso. A PiD would deface it and be a waste of money.
However, you probably think, by now, I'm going to recommend you get the Zaffiro and I'm not. Enough machines come up for sale here that, if you're not in a tearing hurry you can choose a second hand machine from a victim of upgradeitis for reasonable money.
And if I was doing it all again, that's what I would do.
Wait until a machine you fancy comes up in here.
Isomac Zaffiro, Eureka Mignon, Isomac Gram Macinino, Aeropress, Stovetop espresso, various Moka stovetops, 3 cafetieres, 50's glass Cona. Behmor 1600.