I will buy a spare one before they're gone and hope that someone picks up where Presto has left off. Ed
Positive Product Points
Proper water temp., Nice reservoir, good heating plate, carafe pours well, makes a fine cup of coffee. Added a Swissgold filter.
Negative Product Points
Fear that maker will die an early death as others have experienced. Shallow ridges in basket could cause overflow with paper filters so added Swissgold filter that fit just ok. Carafe small opening makes cleaning more difficult.
Detailed Commentary
Presto made a great first attempt at an affordable home drip coffee maker. If they had improved a few flaws(as mentioned in many reviews), had a better marketing campaign and added a model with a thermal carafe they could have ruled the home coffee maker world. I saw that Target had pulled them from their stores and feared that the end was near. So I emailed Presto with praise for their first attempt and suggestions as are mentioned in many reviews and this is their response:
Mr. Bourgeois,
Thank you for all your favorable comments. You are correct, we have discontinued the coffee maker due to poor sales and lack of placement. All our remaining inventory has been purchased by Sears/Kmart and should be on there shelves in October of this year. I am not certain all of the stores in their two chains will carry the product. They will be purchasing approximately 25,000 pieces.
Thank you again for all your comments and suggestions.
Jeff Madson Product and Service Manager National Presto Industries Inc 3925 North Hastings Way Eau Claire WI 54703
Just when an American company finally has the start of a well engineered product line- it's over. This is the first time I've thought of encouraging a campaign to encourage Presto to improve the few first model flaws and improve the product idenity with appropriate marketing. "Scandinavian"did not properly identify the strengths of the product and the boasts of the product were not boldly identified on the box.etc.
Buying Experience
no problems
Three Month Followup
It's time for the 3 month followup. Sad to say my first unit died at about 3 months of age(but do have a friend who has one almost 2 years old now with daily use). It had a circuit board failure(took it apart). I contacted Presto to see if I could get a replacement board but they did not have parts available. But since it had such a short life they did offer me a free UPS ticket(to send mine back) and a new replacement. Thank you Presto! Presto has discontinued the unit now. The last 25,000 units went to Sears/Kmart in October. It's too bad they couldn't have redesigned the first attempt but that's the way things are these days. Bottom line: This is the only machine makes a great cup of coffee without spending $150+. The units are selling for 24.99 or less(were on sale for 17.99a month ago)and I bet they will go on sale again soon to get rid of the last remaining. I bought 8 units during the sale to sell to friends who want to explore good coffee without having to spend big bucks on a grinder and TV or Capresso together. Now, the rest of the story; A couple months ago I tried a test. I brewed 3 pots of pre-ground corporate coffee, one from the Presto and one from my TV and one from a Mr. ******. They were all really bad but the Mr.****** was the least offensive? How could that be? I believe that complete and proper extraction of a fresh roasted quality coffee is a plus but complete extraction of a crappy stale coffee brings out too many of the defects. I will not hold my breath waiting for the next low priced drip machine that heats to proper temp because of my test study results. The coffee maker companies are just trying to make the best of crappy coffee that most consumers buy and I'm sure are not considering those who brew a fresh roasted and ground estate in their tests.
