I had high hopes for this coffeemaker--lots of great reviews from some coffee aficionado websites. And it does make decent coffee. But there are certain little things mentioned in other reviews that proved to be not only true, but very bothersome. My unit never did produce hot coffee. Pre-heated carafe or no, the coffee was never as hot as any other coffeemaker I have ever had, and therefore is pretty useless in my opinion. Also, it is true that the alignment of the carafe has to be perfect to avoid coffee leaking all out on the counter. I never had spillage like this to happen, because I was always very careful to line the thing up exactly right, but it was a needlessly tedious task to have to do and never feel sure if you got it just right. The metal finish on the unit is extremely nice, as it does not show fingerprints. I sent this unit back and decided to keep my Krups Moka Brew as a backup for when I need a pot full--excellent coffee but takes a bit of extra work. My new everyday brewer? The Breville/Keurig--great coffee and almost no work involved!

This is the best darned coffeemaker I have ever owned & I bought it refurbished for seventy bucks off the regular price while still getting the same warranty as a brand new machine. I have owned it for 9 months now.

BTW this is the ONLY drip coffeemaker with a stainless steel boiler widely available on the consumer market! That alone is worth the price. Why, you may ask? It's because my family members are susceptible to Alzheimer's (genealogy research has shown that of 10 brothers, 5 moved to west coast & 5 remained on east coast of mountains of Virginia...the 5 who moved to west coast all died of Alzheimer's while the 5 who remained in Virginia never had it which means it is environmental/diet/consumer product orientated). Aluminum, such as is found in every single consumer coffee machine's boiler unit, except the Capresso line, is scientifically linked to Alzheimer's. If aluminum is a major factor in this disease, why would anyone want to drink it daily in their coffee??

I have measured the temp. of coffee brewed with this machine & it is very close to the ideal 197-201 temp. range. My unit's temp was exactly 197. One reviewer below measured his temp from the carafe itself after it was completely done brewing. That isn't a true measure of the unit's brewing temp. You must measure it in the filter basket right after it comes out of the machine, otherwise variables come into play, such as whether or not the carafe was preheated? If you're putting something hot into a cold conatiner of course it won't be the same temp as when it first came out of the machine! To get a fairly accurate reading don't put the carafe under right away. Let some pool into the filter housing, then read the temp. I let it pool into the filter housing every time anyway because I like to be sure every particle of coffee I have just ground gets wet. Just don't forget to put the carafe under very soon or you will get an overflow! I have owned nearly every brand of coffeemaker made out there, including Mr. Coffee, Cuisinart & Krups, & none have completely soaked the grounds before dripping into their respective carafes. Not even the brands that have the so-called "patented spray head" design have managed to wet all the grounds.

The ball in the lid has never stuck on my unit, but then again I keep it clean. You must, at the very least, rinse the various parts before each use or you run the risk of clogging as another reviewer pointed out below.

This machine does indeed brew fast! I timed mine at just slightly over 8 minutes. The carafe could be better insulated, but if you like to spread your cups of coffee out over several hours or half the day, then invest in a good insulated stainless steel carafe like the Thermos brand. Granted, you shouldn't have to, but it's the price I'm willing to pay just to get a stainless steel boiler unit in my coffee machine (Boyd's Coffee Co. does make another stainless steel boiler coffeemaker for consumer use, but you must order it directly from them, it is a behemoth on the counter, quite ugly & costs around $300).

I don't use my unit's electronic features because, as someone else pointed out, why grind coffee grounds just to let them sit in the filter all night to get stale? Might as well use pre-ground coffee in a can if you're going to do that. I like my coffee tasting fresh for sure! I also unplug my unit after brewing to save juice (started doing this after seeing a program on tv about "vampire" appliances & how much a person can save in electric costs by turning them off). If Capresso made a basic unit I would have bought that one.

This is hands down THE BEST drip coffee machine on the consumer market. Granted, it's not the perfect machine, but so far that machine doesn't exist yet!

I have been brewing with this pot for four months now, and I have never been anything but completely pleased with its performance. The pot it replaced was another high-quality thermal carafe unit, and the MT-500 is head and shoulders superior in coffee consistency and flavor.

I am a bit of a coffee fanatic, roasting my own beans about twice a week, and as such I demand a high-quality cup of coffee. Normally one assumes that coffee prepared in a drip machine is going to be a bit of a compromise, but my experience with this pot has changed my opinion on that point! Using a wire mesh filter (the included filter is appropriate) and an appropriate grind (as fine as possible without building a lot of sediment in the pot or clogging the filter, in my experience, gives the best flavor with this pot), the flavor from this pot compares favorably to press extraction.

Coffee stays hot in a full carafe for four or five hours; as the coffee is poured off, keep time shrinks. I often brew a pot at about 9AM and drink the last cup at about 1PM, and the last cup is hot enough for my tastes, but noticably cooler than it was at brew time.

The 3-5 cup (half pot) brewing cycle works well. On previous pots I have owned, half pots are difficult to gauge grounds for proper extraction. With this pot, divide your normal ground quantity in half, push the 3-5 button, and brew away. The resulting pot will be very similar to your normal full pot in quality and flavor.

I have not used the timer features, so I cannot review them fairly. It seems incongruous to me to pay $180 for a coffee pot and then grind your beans the night before.

Pros:
* Brews a consistently high quality cup if you do your part.
* Removable brew basket makes keeping the head unit clean a piece of cake.
* Thermal carafe, while not the best specimen of its kind I have seen, is effective.

Cons:
* If not using the integral water filter, the "extra" water held in the filter bucket is sufficient to overflow the carafe if the reservoir is completely filled.
* Pricey! If you're not a true coffee lover, the $50-80 tier of thermal carafe pots will serve your needs just as well. Does not produce a markedly superior pot of coffee from my previous unit when using grocery store "gourmet" coffees.

After wasting $200 on 2 Cuisinart coffee pot's that didn't last long we researched this Capresso and based on the reviews bought one. It does make a great cup of coffee and that's the bottom line for us. We have had no problems with dripping, or warm coffee. Sometimes we have a cup late in the day and the coffee that's left over still takes good.
Yes, I agree with most that the Coffee Pot is pricey. In the long run I would have saved money if I had gotten the Capresso before I bought the Cuisinart's.

We had a Starbucks Barista machine before which we liked but it started leaking after six years... This machine does everything that one did though it does not hold as much coffee. The carafe, however, does keep the coffee hot for three hours. I was amazed.

Everything about its construction is rugged and reliable and clean up is easy. Also has the filter which is nice so you don't have to keep descaling.

I bought it because it won a reward as best value from Wall Street Journal and I figure those guys drink a hell of a lot of coffee...