I have always been kind of interested in having the convience of making my own coffee/espresso at home instead of always buying from Starbucks.\r\n\r\nI'm a college student and i'm not really into coffee that much, but i need it to go along with my all night studying. I usually order white chocolate mocha at Starbucks, but i've recently been purchasing Starbucks Doubleshots espresso.\r\n\r\nI would love to be able to make espresso close or better tasting than the Doubleshots. And i usually like my coffee/espresso iced or cold.\r\n\r\nI prefer a super-automatic machine with a price range under $400 but i wouldn't mind bumping it up just a little bit more if the difference in quality is that great. I've searched a few threads on here and came out with a few machines that I don't really know which is better or not.\r\n\r\n1) http://www.1-800-espresso.com/trevi-...plus.html\r\n2) http://www.1-800-espresso.com/trevi-...plus.html\r\n3) http://www.1-800-espresso.com/saeco-...0047.html\r\n4) http://www.1-800-espresso.com/saeco-grand-crema.html \r\n\r\nAnd here are two that I searched to be pretty good that is over $400. Are they worth the extra price?\r\n1) http://www.1-800-espresso.com/trevi-...5308.html\r\n2) http://www.1-800-espresso.com/saeco-...ml\r\n\r\nKeep in mind that I'm not really picky with my coffee and i will probably ice the drink as well.\r\n\r\nThanks!

From what I've read posted by others on various forums, super-automatics are great if you like the machine working for you and don't expect alot from it. I know they're nice and it would be fun to tinker with the settings, look great in any room, etc. But, they do have their limits. I think the idea of a machine grinding, tamping, dosing, brewing and cleaning up after itself is awesome, but it does come with a price. Most say you can't really fine-tune the coffee the way you can with manual machines. They also say the super-automatics can be a pain in the butt to clean manually (which all machines will require). Good luck! Later!

Have you ever tried to clean a super-auto machine?