It's great while it lasts.
Hamilton Beach is one of the few manufacturers out there making cone filter basket coffee machines for people on a budget. Cone filters brew a finer cup of coffee due to the water more thoroughly soaking the beans on the journey to the pot. It's a pity they don't last longer. Every basket filter machine I've ever owned has made weaker coffee but lasted a lot longer than my poor cone machines (tear). Brew Performance This brews a delightful cup of coffee, and while it's operating at full capacity it brews it pretty fast. Key words: while it's operating at full capacity. Ease of Cleaning It's not terribly difficult to clean this coffee machine. Just run a couple of cycles of vinegar water. The carafe and brew basket can be cleaned separately with relative ease. The carafe resists browning very well compared to others I have owned. Ease of Use It doesn't get much simpler than this. This model has no bells and whistles, just makes coffee with the press of a button. Design Coffee machines that take cone filters brew more flavorful coffee than basket filters are capable of brewing. This one does a great job at making delicious coffee. It just doesn't last very long. Durability Here's where I have to deduct points. These machines just don't last long at all. Mine lasted less than a year. The degradation started slowly - literally. It just started brewing slower and slower, a little bit more every day. I tried thoroughly cleaning it but that didn't seem to help any with the slowness. It got to the point where it was taking an hour to brew a 12 cup pot. It was still great tasting coffee, so I just adjusted my schedule so that the coffee would be ready when I was. Then one morning it brewed two potent cups out of what was supposed to be a full pot and then quit. I tried unplugging it and plugging it back in, and it steamed up the room nicely but would not brew any more cups. Bummer.
el71
Tampa, FL