Gaggia Syncrony Digital /GA 300

...one extra button and the Gaggia misses out the intial bean grinding stage, and gets to work on the pre-ground instead.
The machine is neat, stylish and compact, and comes with a host of additional features (such as variable temperature, cup counter) all accessed via the small LCD screen on the front of the top panel.
The only thing I might want to change would be to increase the size of the water tank, but then again, it would make ... more

We've had this machine for nearly 3 years now, and it's performed faultlessly. If you enjoy a decent cup of coffee, I can't really see what could be better than this machine. It cost us £380, which seemed a lot of money at the time, but it's been worth every penny.
It's very easy to use, simply fill the water tank with water, the bean hopper with - guess what? - coffee beans, put your cup under the spout and press one of 3 pre-set cup sizes. The machine then grinds a measured dose of beans (which can be adjusted according to your taste), pumps heated water through the ground coffee and out through the spout into your cup. The spent grounds are then dropped into a 'dreg drawer' fitted into the side of the machine. The machine makes a fair bit of noise during this operation, especially when doing the bean grinding, so I guess you wouldn't want one in a library, but it's certainly no louder than many other kitchen appliances.
The water tank holds about 2 litres, and the bean hopper enough for about 30 cups (depending how strong you like your coffee).
Periodically, the dreg drawer will need to be emptied (the machine will tell you when it's full), as will the drip tray on which you place your cup.
It's very simple to empty and clean, and we even pop it into our car to take with us to other people's parties (at their request!).
It's never gone wrong or caused us any problems, just keeps producing cup after cup of excellent coffee.
Most of what we drink is normal espresso type, but we have made the occasional capuccino as well, and the milk frothing steam wand works very well, although you have to remember to wipe it clean immediately after use, otherwise it gets 'icked-up' with the proteins in the milk.
There's a water tank and a bean container, and this machine lets you know when they need refilling. The 3 pre-set cup sizes are very useful - we have ours set to very small (if we want a shot of espresso), medium, (about the size of a teacup) and large (just right for a normal mug).
If you want to use pre-ground coffee (e.g. the odd cup of decaffeinated or 'flavoured' coffee - urghhhh!), there's a chute in the top of the machine into which you can drop your spoonful of pre-ground. Press one extra button and the Gaggia misses out the intial bean grinding stage, and gets to work on the pre-ground instead.
The machine is neat, stylish and compact, and comes with a host of additional features (such as variable temperature, cup counter) all accessed via the small LCD screen on the front of the top panel.
The only thing I might want to change would be to increase the size of the water tank, but then again, it would make the machine bigger and more cumbersome.
In summary, very highly recommended. 

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