I purchased this machine a year ago. It is a bean to cup coffee machine This means that you pour water into one container and coffee beans into another, press a button on the front and out comes an Italian style expresso coffee. You can then use the machine to steam milk for a cappuccino. Although the intention of this review is to warn buyers who are hoping to regularly drink italian style capuccinos against buying this machine, I must also add that the machine may also disappoint those who like very very stong liquor type expressos. You can increase the strength of the coffee but not to the extent of some bars in Italy.
As I said above, although the machine does produce good and reasonably strong coffee, mine has broken down 3 times in one year. I have contacted the Milan office who has been in touch with an official repairer and despite these repairs the same problem has recurred so I'm reasonably sure that the problem is not specific to my machine.
The problem seems to be that the machine uses the same pump to drive the water through the coffee spout and to generate steam. There is a rather febble plastic knob to switch between these two different functions which must be actuated every time you make a cappuccino.. After a month of making 3 capuccinos a day the switch for cutting off the pressure to the steam generator starts to leak and water continually leaks from the steam spout (NB I use mineral water and I regularly descale. This is absolutely not a problem with my maintenance of the machine). Then when you switch to the coffee mode the water comes out of the steam spout. It becomes impossible to make coffee at all
Each time I have had to take the machine back for repair. At the moment I'm not sure what to do as the problem seems to be due to a design fault of using the same pump for steam and for coffee so the machine is not adapted for making regular capuccinos. Basically the capuccino function is best left as a decoration
I have marked this machine as unsafe as I consider that the leaky steam pipe is unsafe.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Your review is a bit too short, but a good start :)
nicholasstedman 18.05.2009 17:23
Its difficult to be 100 % sure that there is not something specifically wrong with my product. I have had the machine repaired 2 times by an official Gagglia repairer the second time after phoning MIlan and telling them about the problem with my machine. They then contacted the repairer but the problem has now occurred a third time. I would definitely advise someone with a penchant for capiccinos from risking this machine
LawrenceP 18.05.2009 17:18
I rated "helpful" because you pointed out a problem which might or might not be your particular product. I'm not any the wiser on the product though.
Gaggia Platinum Event The Gaggia Platinum Event is the entry level model of the ... more
Gaggia Platinum range of bean to cup coffee makers. The Gaggia Platinum Event is attractive and easy to use. Most importantly you can enjoy real Italian espresso ...
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