Visually it's fantastic a great conversation piece but it is not capable of making a consistantly fantastic cup of coffee/espresso
Positive Product Points
It looks great and it's easy to use
Negative Product Points
I love the tast of coffee, the machine is incapable of delivering a consistantly great tasting espresso, about 3 out of 5 are below my standards.
Detailed Commentary
On the first day, I had to remove the bean tray because the dosage adjustment did not work (the pinion did not engage the rack). Before each use, I have to open the front and wipe the top screen of the brewing chamber old coffee grounds, that were not ejected, are stuck to it and will give the freshly brewed coffee an off taste. Quite frequently, the entire portion of fresh ground coffee will miss the brewing chamber all together and end up in the sludge tray below on the opposite side of the catch bin. Last week, the water heating unit developed a leak that makes a noise like sizzling bacon, all in all the machine is a huge disappointment. Come to think of it, it seems more like a prototype than a production model.
In defense of the Solis company, they have offered to replace it without hesitation
Buying Experience
very good
Three Month Followup
After extensive experimentation I am happy to report that I'm now making a consistently good cup of espresso. What I have found, is a flaw that is common with this type of machine (they all use the same patented brewing unit) after each use you must open the door and manually clean the mesh filter with your index finger. The, otherwise ingenious mechanism, has a serious design flaw - the coffee filter is not self-cleaning and with each brewing cycle a good amount of spent coffee grounds remain stuck to the mesh filter and unless removed will leave behind a bitter after taste.
