Coffeemakers

Comment:

I have purchased 2 of these machines in 6 years and they have both failed. I will never purchase another one.

How long have you owned it:

More than six months

Bottom Line

No, I would not recommend this to a friend.

Comment:

This model has been made for a very long time. I bought mine in 2004 and it still works[2013]as when it was new. Some have complained about it not being easy to clean. I'm not sure what part they mean. The carafe? no different to clean than any other carafe. The basket? Same thing. The only thing I can think they may be referring to is the water reservoir. On this one, yes, you need to take it to the sink. I turn it on its side, use a bottle brush, and then rinse with the spray attachment on my kitchen faucet. This goes for both sides of the tank: The water reservoir on the right and the pumping reservoir on the left [which also has an easily removed and very helpful replaceable charcoal water purifying cartridge.] But, maybe I'm not like others. This is a minor nuisance as I only occasionally clean this. There is nothing but clean water going in both sides of the reservoirs. In all the times I've cleaned, there have never been any coffee sediments in either side, proving that only clean water is entering both sides. [Of course, unless you're clumsy and pour grounds directly into either one of them.] I've never had any problems with either the coffee tasting bad, nor any health issues. Coffee not staying hot? The unit has a control for the plate temperature. I set mine at medium and the coffee stays the same temp until the preset shut-off [I think 2 hrs - longer and your coffee would develop a burned taste.] When it beeps saying it's shutting off, if you wish you can flip the brew switch on again extending it another 2 hrs. The unit senses it has no more water, and reverts to just heating the warming plate. The only complaint I had, but no longer have: The water reservoir has a graduated water increment bar that is almost impossible to view unless you are looking directly above and down into it. That's not an easy task. However, I discovered to my delight, that by filling up the carafe to the water line to the number of cups wanted, then pouring it into the reservoir, Voila, it came to the same cup mark on the inner gauge. So, no need to use the inner gage. Would I buy it again? Most definitely. But, since this is now going onto 9 years of ownership, I doubt that's going to be needed any time soon.

How long have you owned it:

More than six months

Bottom Line

Yes, I would recommend this to a friend.

Comment:

After my latest cheap coffee maker died less than two months after purchase, I decided to invest in a more expensive and hopefully better one. I bought the Cuisinart model #DCC-1200 from a local store, who highly recommended this model as reliable and hard-working. Almost everybody who works here, owns this model! the salesperson told me.<br /><br />We've owned it about a year now, and we've been very happy with it. It makes one cup as easily as twelve. I like having an option between using the gold filter or paper filters. (I eventually realized we were using so much water to clean the gold filter after each use, we switched back to paper ones.) It has a gentle beep beep beep alert when your coffee is done brewing, which is handy. It has a separate option for turning on the burner heat on early, so even a one- or two-cup brew session stays hot. It doesn't look too dirty if you forget to clean it every few days.<br /><br />There are, however, a few design problems with it that seem so easy to fix, it's frustrating that Cuisinart hasn't addressed them. And they all deal with water.<br /><br />Pouring water into the reservoir is hard because the water only goes in on one side, and the opening is narrow. Lots of spills.<br /><br />The carafe (a replacement carafe, by the way, costs almost half as much as the entire machine, with shipping—what's up with THAT??) drips when it pours. We previously had a Black and Decker model (an earlier model lasted five years, the replacement model is the one that lasted two months) had a no-drip carafe—which never dripped! How hard would it be for Cuisinart to do that??<br /><br />The worst water issue, though, is that condensation from the brewing process collects on the lid of the machine. And when you raise the lid to replace the filter/add water, it all drips off OUTSIDE the carafe and onto your counter surface. If you don't stay on top of this (and with three young adults in our household, there are many things they don't stay on top of), you will end up with a sizeable puddle over time. Yuk. Why couldn't the lid hinge set INSIDE the reservoir, so the water just dripped back into it??<br /><br />If these are the sort of things that would drive you mad, this is not the coffee maker for you. Otherwise, as I said, it's been a good, reliable product.

How long have you owned it:

More than six months

Bottom Line

Yes, I would recommend this to a friend.