Krups FNP112-42 Espremio Espresso/Cappuccino/Latte Maker

This machine is my first and I’ve had it for 7 months. While I enjoy Starbuck’s consistent products, I realized I was spending quite a bit of dough for mochas (it’s extra for organic milk) and often found myself fleeing their lounge area when unruly kids or screaming babies showed up. I also love the assurance that if I wanted decaf at that moment, I got decaf (the automated machines Starbuck’s now uses tends to make their employees “zero in” to hitting the more popular caffeine shot button). Plus, I can heat the milk extra hot (170 degrees)-Starbucks does it to around 140 and the drink is lukewarm quickly. There’s something embarrassing about having a Barista call out “grande, no-whip, 3 shot 170 degree organic mocha for Brad.” I think Dennis Miller has a bit on slapping people that order coffee with more than 4 words in the description.The Espremio is extremely easy to use/understand, seems to be durable and doesn’t take much counter space. Water for shots comes out at 180 degrees . Despite the recommendation to use more flavorful spring water, I use distilled water to avoid the need to descale. Besides, when you add heated milk and Starbuck’s mocha powder, it’s nearly impossible to detect the difference in water. Clean up is a snap–run a coffee-less shot to clean the filter, operate the steam wand for 10 seconds into an empty cup, empty drip tray and wipe dry…nice.Customer service is accessible 24 hours a day and are quite friendly. However, they have provided incorrect information on several occasions-not just on this machine, but on other high end machines of theirs I’m investigating. When I state the owner’s manual or sales clerk says differently, they backpedal or mention they’re not experts on that product (what?)! I suspect they provide service for multiple companies (outsourced). I read somewhere that Delonghi bought Krups, or at least their espresso line. I won’t complain the machine only does one shot at a time…that was clear on the packaging when I bought it.I originally thought I’d have to return it because, despite whether I ground the beans or Starbucks did, no amount of tamping pressure slowed-down a “too fast” shot extraction. In addition, the filter is always left with a significant amount of water, leaving a soupy mess vs. a firm, easily disposed of puck (meaning precious flavors were being left behind). The filter always has water in it, even after running an empty filter shot to prime/heat the shot glass/filter. I suspect that’s a side-affect of having only 8 bars vs. 15 bars of pressure (not enough pressure to blow out the last bit of water). The salvation was the pods from Starbucks, Illy and other companies. As long as the pods are well within the freshness date, don’t believe the critics that say they suck. The shots are excellent and give the foamy-head everyone babbles on about. Just make sure you trim excess filter paper that comes on the Illy and other Italian pods so it doesn’t interfere with the filter / percolation head seal (leaking will occur). Also, I find the ideal temperature light goes out ½ way through the pod shot, so I turn it to stand-by and the machine is ready to draw the remaining shot in about 15 seconds (once water re-heats). I suspect that’s why Krups doesn’t recommend using pods with this machine. If it dies, I won’t hesitate to spend another $75 on a new unit.