DeLonghi EC270 Espresso

fantastic espresso coffee maker! was easy to use and is very stylish and looks good in my kitchen:D The features are very easy to use and i thought the cup warmer was a great feature of this coffee maker. however parts were fiddley when putting it together. i thought it was hard however to keep washing the drip tray to keep it looking as good as it was when i first bought it.

Delonghi EC270 Espresso maker

Makes a good introductory machine to making espresso based drinks at home.

It looks quite stylish in the kitchen and can make perfectly good espresso shots. The pump pressure is ample, and given the right coffee and right technique, the results are excellent. The steam pressure is poor though, I'm not sure the steam thermostat is set at the right temperature, as I have to keep waiting for the boiler to make more steam during making a drink. More expensive brands have similar problems though in my experience, even machines costing up to £300, so I think I got very good value out of my little DeLonghi.

I don't think you can get an appreciably better machine than this without spending a lot lot more. Even pro machines don't make better coffee, they're just easier to use and more durable.

Oh, and you must filter your water if you don't want to de-scale monthly, but that's the same for any machine.