Magimix Robot cafe > Reviews (3)

I've owned several espresso machines before buying the Magimix Robot Cafe. My previous experience has been that whilst you can get a decent cup of coffee from a cheap espresso machine, they will invariably break down within the year, and the quality of the coffee is no more than decent. The Magimix Robot was my first bean-to-cup and I was very impressed with the quality of the coffee. It certainly beats any cup you get from your normal cafe.
Ease of use is not of major importance with an espresso machine (that is, you put coffee in and you get coffee out, none of them are particularly challenging to use) and it's the same with the Magimix - it's a matter of filling the tank with water and the beans compartment with coffee beans and pressing a button. It's handy that you can use both beans and ground coffee and that you can change the grinding level to suit whichever beans you are using.
The initial price is high, but you get what you pay for. The only gripe I've got is with the price of cleaning tablets and maintenance. If the machine goes wrong you can't have it repaired at an authorised Magimix repairer, you have to send it back to them for a fixed charge of £80 regardless of what fault it develops. That being said I can't fault the Magimix customer services, they do collect and deliver it promptly within a week (just to mention, my machine went wrong during a house move so it was probably us banging it around rather than a manufacturing fault).
Overall, I've had this machine for about 2 years now and I can't live without it. Once it reaches the end of its life I will certainly replace it with a similar one.