Saeco Starbucks Barista Coffee & Espresso Combo

I had the non digital Italia for 4 years and it has probably made more than 3000 espressos and cappuccinos. Last month, it made a strange noise, I brought it to a Saeco center and they told me that the motherboard died, it costs 280$ to replace. I said forget it, then the technician offered me 100$ for the broken machine so he can repair it and sell it himself (I paid 399$ for this refurbished model). Basically he wanted to refurbish a refurbished machine used daily for 4 years. Whatever.

I bought a refurbished Saeco Italia digital last week. Nice machine! Mine had 350 espressos already made (the digital model counts how many cups are brewed) before being refurbished. I love it, and the digital screen offers several options not available for the Italia non digital model (pre brew, pre grind, language selection, descaling reminder, water temperature, clock, auto on function, etc).

Now here is the important part of the review.

Can you buy a car, use it without changing the engine oil for 50000 miles, return it to the dealer and say that you're not satisfied because the engine is making a funny noise? Of course you can't. The Saeco technician told me that 90% of the Italia machines that are coming back were never descaled by the owner. You have to descale your machine every 1-2 months or you can wait until your machine displays a message asking you to descale it. Then do it right away. I use the Urnex Dezcal product, it is inexpensive and it works well. Now if you want to discard my comment and use this machine without descaling it regularly, you will probably come back here whining about how fragile this machine is or how bizarre the coffee tastes.

In addition, here is a simple tip learned over the years. When you use the steam function, you hear a 'tic, tic, tic' sound when it emits steam. That's normal. However there is still a lot of pressure inside the machine when you're finished, so turn the knob to off, remove your cup and reopen the knob at say 50% (you won't hear the tic tic tic) and let the remaining steam go out. Then let some hot water flow for a second or two to clear the milk that may sill be inside. That, in addition with the descaling recommendation, will make you say that the Italia is the most reliable machine out there. It is that simple, folks. Only 2 things to keep in mind.

The taste of the espressos made by this machine is simply amazing.

If your motherboard dies after 3000 or 4000 cups, just calculate how much money you saved by using this machine daily and try to sell it to the Saeco technician for 100$...

I have had my Saeco Italia Espresso Machine for nearly 4 years. I use it everyday. It came with a DVD which was very informative. The machine will tell you when you need to add water, add beans, when to dump the grinds. It makes the perfect cup of espresso every time. I can't say enough about how user friendly it is and how much I love it. I did have to call customer service one day because it wasn't working when I pushed the button. They walked me through the trouble shooting and it was a simple problem to correct. (I turned the power off before it dumped the used ground beans) I love how the machine grinds the beans perfectly and what great espresso I get to enjoy each and every day without having to get dressed and drive to Starbucks!

After reading the reviews I bought this machine anyway. The price was right at $400.00. It was originally $900.00. This was a factory refurbished unit. Because of the problems with this machine it was discountinued. It seems people either had problems and hated it or they didn't have any problems and loved it. I am an optimist and bought the refurbished unit in hopes that the factory had found and fixed any re-ocurring problems with these machines. It does make excellent espresso and since it comes calibrated to Starbucks specs my wife has not had to stop at Starbucks every morning for her dailey fix. In the month that we have owned it I have calculated it has saved us approx. $80.00 not accounting for wear and tear on tires and gasoline cost for detours to Starbucks as well as time saved. If this machine last six months I will have made money. It has every option to make espresso or coffee any way you like it and is a total joy to use. I am also pleasently suprised and how everything breaks down so easily for cleaning. Everything about this machine ie easy. It is also a very smart looking machine and looks impressive on any counter top. In my opinion for the price and the six month waurranty you can not go wrong on this machine. You will pay hundreds more for a machine this feature rich. Snap them up while they last.
Here it is almost a year later. This machine is used everyday up to ten times and we still have had know problems. Awsome machine.

Ok. Over 4000 cups made. Still going strong with no problems. I clean the machine and descale when it tells me to. It still works like the day I bought it. Perfect!

I was researching espresso machines for a friend of mine when I read the other shocking reviews for the digital italia.

I have had mine for over 4-1/2 years and my experience could not be better. In fact, the machine has a digital counter which tells you how many shots of espresso you've drawn & mines over 2200.

I purchased mine brand new from a retail Starbucks store and yes it was expensive. The workers at the store said their were occasions their store machines were down & they used the digital italia as a replacement in a pinch.

Regarding the statement of starbucks replacing with other models, I have thoroughly reviewed the DeLonghi they replaced it with & in my opinion, that that thing is an all plastic hunk of junk -- even the steam wand is plastic as opposed to this stainless on the Digital Italia. Seems to me a case of find a vendor that will make a "cheaper" product with "similar" features = higher profit margin for the store.

It is fully automatic, pour in beans and water & the machine does the rest.

Yes, you do have to descale it on occasion, but that is the case with all espresso machines & this one makes it so easy anyway ... just buy the descaling packet from starbucks (less than $5 bucks) mix with water & the machine cycles itself & the digital readout walks you through the process.

This is one of my most treasured (and admired) possessions & I recommend it highly and without reservation.

We have previously owned two of these Starbucks espresso makers. Starbucks/Saeco no longer make this model. The machine makes excellent coffee until the pump starts to go and I have no idea why - whether it doesn't get hot enough or what, but the coffee declines in quality. This used machine was made in 1998, but it still works great - it must actually not have been used that much (as was advertised). Only negative aspect is that it is slightly noiser than the other models I have owned, but as long as it is making great coffee, the noise is not an issue.