Very functional design. Easy cleaning. Easy to fill. Hot tempreture for good extraction. Buying from Costco.com was easy.
Negative Product Points
Plastic construction. The auto/on/off button is very easy to use, but not intuitively obvious. You cannot fill with water while still under a kitchen cabinet (but I don't really know if you can find a machine that meets that criteria).
Detailed Commentary
I too replaced a Cuisinart Brew Central with the Presto. I was looking for a new coffee maker as my old Krups yieled luke warm, underextracted coffee. My wife did not want a thermal carafe for a variety of reasons including ease of cleaning. I originally bought the Cuisinart on the grounds that a $100 machine would be better than a $40 machine. I was wrong. The Cuisinart is more substantial, but is not as well designed. It is harder to fill correctly. The brew temreture was not as hot as the Presto. I then returned my Brew Central to Costco and ordered the Presto. (I put the price at $40, but it was three months ago and I forget the exact amount.)
The Presto is a good value. It is easy to use. The coffee is better extracted than with my two previous units. It is easy to look at. A spare carafe can be had from Presta for about $15.
It arrived on the day that Costco said it would. There was no additional packing save the box, but that really didn't matter. One simply fills the filter and pours in the water. THere is a gauge on the side that is easy to read for water volume. One needs to push the on button twice...once for program and then for on to work the unit. The clock and program numbers are small and hard to read, but this is not a feature I use frequently. Still, coffee snobbery aside, it is nice to have an auto feature if you need it.
Buying Experience
Costco.com is great. Returns at Costco could not be easier.
