Will last about 8 months if you use it daily. There are known issues with the steam wand failing.
Positive Product Points
Heats up relatively fast. With the right grinder, you will make pretty good espresso.
Negative Product Points
There is a plastic piece where the steam wand connects to the pump body. It will fail after 8 months of daily use unless you never change the position of the steam wand. If you want to froth milk, the machine becomes basically un-usable after a moderate amount of use.
Detailed Commentary
Many people have commented about the lack of space between the drip tray and the steam wand. While that is an issue, an even bigger issue is the weak joint between the steam knob and the machine. We owned the machine for 8 months before this plastic piece failed. It was still under warranty, so Cuisinart sent us a "new" (I suspect it was actually reconditioned) machine. We had to pay for shipping of the new machine and to return the other one to them. Of course the new machine only had 4 months left on its warranty. Guess what? The new machine lasted another 8 months and then the same thing happened again. Since it wasn't under warranty, we tried taking it apart to fix the problem, but it is pretty much unserviceable (unless you have the ability to mold a new food-safe plastic part). It seems like it should be something fixable, but its not. So now we have a machine that will still make espresso but won't froth milk. My guess is that the part broke because of the low clearance between the wand and the drip tray. You end up having to constantly move the steam wand back and forth (which it should do) just to get your pitcher in and out.
Buying Experience
Easy to buy, you can find it at department stores, online retailers, etc.
