Espresso Machine At Price Club

Q: I recently saw that the Price Club is selling a pump espresso machine for $95. This is the first time I've seen a pump machine for under $100. It is made by Braun and the model is the 400E (or E400). Does anyone know this machine and have an opinion?

A: Yes, I'm familiar with this machine. It's the biggest DOG on the market. Of 8 examples that I've seen, NONE functioned properly out of the box. This turkey leaks, sprays, and dribbles, but usually can't get up enough pressure to even ripple the surface of the milk. They've dropped the price a LOT on this one trying to dump their remaining stock. Avoid it. You should have seen the look on the Braun reps face at the Housewares Show when I asked him if they'd solved the dripping problem on their new espresso machines! hee-hee-hee (I can be soooo evil sometimers) He sidestepped the question with a "Well, we haven't heard of any problems with any of these units." OF COURSE NOT, dippo, they're not even on the market yet!! BTW, the whole attitude of the Braun booth just dripped paranoia and condescension.... I guess if I'm not Kmart or Dayton/Hudson then I'm not worthy..... This is the same position in which Estro has gotten itself... Right now the *vast* majority of its US sales are to Starbucks, although a deal with Grindmaster is pending. Still, to have all your eggs in one bucket is risky, especially when it's up to a buyer who might change his/her mind without notice. The folks at Braun ignored me until I pulled out a small ruler and started measuring the platform clearance on their new espresso machine, then the cluster of reps who were chatting about 8 ft away suddenly became a bunch of "Excuse me, can we help you?"'s. Too bad they didn't know anything about the product (well, not more than I could have found out by poking around for a few minutes more). When I asked about the new grinders, and why I didn't get any info on them, even though Braun had *just* sent me a new price list, I was told that there were a limited number of them and they were reserved for the large accounts first. When I asked for a new product catalog, I was told that they wouldn't be ready for a month or so. When I asked about some other product info, the rep told me point blank that "Braun is kinda secretive about its product line." Hhhurrmmmpphh!!! I left the booth... what's the point of talking with dweebs like that when far more informed and informative people are working the Saeco/Solis/Krups/Chemex/Pavoni booths? BTW, David, keep an eye out for the Solis Crema line of machines -- these are gorgeous pieces of equipment! They appear to have been designed and built by a bunch of anal retentive Swiss engineers.... The one Swiss guy I was speaking with at the booth said that he was going to change the frothing valve design because there was ONE drop of water at the end of the wand when I was done frothing milk and venting steam! "This is NO good. I am going to change this so there is NO drop!" This is the first home machine that I can honestly say I would WANT in my house (after having been spoiled by working on a commercial machine every day).

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