Easily allows you to grab a cup of coffee in a hurry; 2 parts to clean:  the filter and the water/coffee basket and they have handles making them easy to carry to the sink; no glass pot to break; GREAT for offices

Aesthetics were not on the top of Hamilton Beach's mind -- it's not sleek or pretty by any means; looks top-heavy (although no problems so far); bulky and won't fit all small spaces; auto-timer selection is funky -- push once for auto, twice for on which means you have to look closely at the dial to see which one is on since they both light up red; sister has had trouble with auto-timer going on by itself

To be honest, I would not buy this coffee maker for home.  I need to be able to pick up a carafe or pot and carry it to the table to warm-up my own, husband's or guest's coffee and I wouldn't want to be carrying multiple cups back and forth.  But we LOVE it in my office.  I'm on faculty in a college of nursing and we're all coffee-addicts (probably from all those late-night shifts in our younger days!)  My office mate and I had previously been gifted with a carafe-style coffee maker (free from Gevalia via a friend) and were not sad to see it go.  We needed the 12-cup capacity because as a state university, there's no break room except the student union building and everyone comes by to grab a cup.  The H-B serves it's purpose well.  There has been only minor dripping from the spout after dispensing (thought to be "OE" - operater error) and since we have not been blessed with an office with running water, the baskets with handles have made trips to a sink for clean-up easy.  It's been especially nice not to have to clean more than 2 parts.  (The basket for measuring water is also the basket that the coffee brews into.  Water is poured into a back compartment, the filter basket nestles inside the water/coffee basket and there are spouts on both baskets for pouring water/dishwater out easily.)  We have not had the problem with lukewarm coffee mentioned by another reviewer, but that might be because the coffee is used up pretty quickly.  The timer could be better designed.  We find ourselves pushing through 2 cycles before we figure out it's "on" and not on "auto-time" because the notation on the timer dial is so small.   My sister was also impressed and bought one herself.  She's a single, working mother of a teen and it's been a great coffee maker for just the 2 of them.  I have not experienced the problem, but her pot kept turning itself on to the auto-brew cycle.  We've appreciated the auto-off after a few hours (don't need to be burning down state buildings through unattended coffee pots!)  This would not be ideal if you drink coffee throughout the day (assuming you like coffee that's been sitting around on a hot plate all day!) but our coffee never lasts that long.

Have not had any need to contact Hamilton-Beach.