Great value for the money. Excellent companion for your drip coffee maker but beware, you will not be satisfied with the shots you pull off this grind.
Positive Product Points
Timer and grind settings offer flexability. Once you calibrate the machine to your likings it seems consistent. Small and attractive form factor. Good seal for bean freshness. Excellent for a good drip coffee maker. Great customer support. Removable top burr assembly for easy cleaning.
Negative Product Points
It will not produce a fine enough grind needed to extract the caliber of flavor and sweetness you are looking for in a good espresso machine.
Detailed Commentary
Positives The Krups unit is a very sleek and elegant machine. Its storage unit is adequate for a pot a day household. After calibrating the unit it does well. By calibrating I mean that you will quickly find that if you select 4 cups it over grinds. The cup dial is more or less a timer. If you take the time to throw some cheap beans through the unit you will find that sweet spot. Mine was the minimum my Bunn takes, 24oz, I set the dial to 2.5 and choose the middle grind setting. For a drip coffee make it doe well. There was minimal dust output and the unit is very easy to clean. I had read about others reporting it jamming so I try to fill it and then tap the machine on the side a few times. I'm not sure if that's why I experienced only 3 occasions where the burrs were grinding air. For the price this is a great unit. It gave me an even, consistent and quick grind. It stacks up well when grinding very oily beans as well. The little brush it comes with aids in cleanup. Krups customer service was great. After a week of ownership I called Krups regarding the unit grinding fine enough for my Starbuck Saeco unit. The rep looked into my problem and reported back that the machine is really made for a drip coffee maker. She took the time to inquire, was pleasant and did her job well. I might not have been happy with the response but Krups support was very cordial.
Now on the the negative. In perspective this is a $60 USD burr grinder. It performed great for that price. The negative is that I could not pull any thing longer than a 15-16 second double shot. The flavor was palatable with some sugar or a lemon peal, but it just wouldn't do it. Tamping the grind in the basket did not do it. Even tamping and tapping the basket a few times didn't significantly improve things. At first I thought the machine would choke but the espresso started coming out. If someone is in the habit of an occasional espresso this could work. The coffee out of the Bunn was very smooth. I enjoyed it and was disappointed to return it. Yes I did return it. For a little more a I can step up to a Solis Maestro or the Starbuck Barista Burr grinder and I will.
Static. My experience with static was yes its there. But, I am in Ohio, its winter and my furnace does help keep the humidity down. There are conflicting reviews on static so it might have some environmental variables impacting this.
Overall, my advice is to get this machine if you use a good drip coffee maker or perhaps a pressure brewing espresso maker. I did not try this but based on the grind size it should yield a good shot. If you are looking at having one unit to do both your espresso and drip don't buy this unit. While it is a great unit in its price range it will not get the grind to where you can pull a good enough shot.
Buying Experience
Great. I purchased this at the local Williams-Sonoma shop and the staff was more than pleasant. I had just returned a Christmas present (Cuisinart Blade grinder) and was looking for a better grinder. The rep who helped me was knowledgable and even recommended a local roaster. Returning was a breeze. Albeit the rep who handled the return seem a bit put off they were very professional.