The Maestro Plus was extremely solid for a grinder in its price range. Baratza's legendary customer service drove me to purchase a refurbished model, which came out of the box looking like a new machine. All of the construction, the burrs, hopper, basket, and case are well engineered. There is no static build-up in the basket and I can easily dump out all of the grounds without sweeping the bottom with a spoon. To date I have had no mechanical problems with it whatsoever. The front- mounted button is also of great connivence. Compared to like priced grinders, the consistency is very good.

The grind is just not that consistent. I use a french press for my coffee and have the Maestro Plus on the second coarsest setting. It comes out with particles ranging in size from up to 2mm all the way to fine dust, much like you would expect from an entry level grinder. It also retained quite a bit of ground coffee after use, so much that I disassemble mine and clean the burrs daily to avoid harming future coffee with the residue. I wish there were more than 40 grind settings- it sounds like a lot but for any brewing method there are only about six notches.

The Maestro Plus is a very solid grinder for less than $150. The grind is reasonably consistent, and works just fine in my french press. The construction is extremely solid and I've had no mechanical problems with it thus far, even being a refurbished model. It retains quite a bit of leftover coffee in the burrs and chute, which has to be cleaned out after each use if you don't want to contaminate your next batch. In a future model I would be pleased to see more adjustments (not for this price range, I know) and maybe better dust control. Overall, I would certainly purchase it again for the price point and my use (french press.)

Baratza's customer service lived up to its extraordinary reputation- this grinder came to me looking like new (I bought it refurbished for about 1/2 the price of a new model.)