Cuisinart DGB-900BC Grind-and-Brew 12-Cup Automatic Coffeemakers

I bought the Grind-and-Brew to solve a couple very specific problems. They are, in no particular order:1) I like coffee in the morning2) I hate *making* coffee in the morning3) If I don't have coffee at home in the morning, it's usually a fair bit before I can wrangle a cup together at work and I'm awfully grumpy during that interval4) My cheapo $30 burr grinder was starting to die5) I like my coffee freshly groundBefore this coffeemaker, I didn't really have a good solution. Some days, I'd manage to make a pot, others I wouldn't. Grinding in the evening and programming the coffeemaker? What am I, a savage?Enter the Grind-and-Brew. Store beans in the top? Fill with water and program? And it grinds and brews for me in the morning? Wow! Fresh coffee, made the way I like it, without all the hassle of grinding in the morning. The coffee is good, the filter isn't too terribly hard to clean, and the problem with the pot that others talk about (not being able to empty the whole carafe) doesn't seem to affect my thermal carafe. Maybe they've updated the design.Now, there are downsides, and these are mostly related to the thermal carafe. I'm a big fan of thermal carafes (which are insulated to keep the coffee hot, rather than designed to cook the coffee slowly on a hot plate). If you want your coffee super-hot, you need to warm the carafe before you brew. This is accomplished by rinsing it with a bit of hot water. Not hard... but not something that fits into my new morning workflow. I've found that the coffee remains satisfactorily hot for long enough if I don't preheat given a few conditions: 1) brew 8 cups or more 2) don't use refrigerated creamer/milk/whatever.While not a solution for everybody, if you want freshly-ground-and-brewed coffee waiting for you when you wake up, this monster (it's quite large) hits the spot.

I bought my DGB900 in June 2008 and I can't live without it. If my house were on fire, it's probably the first thing I'd grab (just kidding but you get the gist). Prior to this, I had a DGB600 for several years. I prefer the DGB900 as I don't have to measure out beans with each use nor do I need to clean the grinder after each use. I agree that the DGB900 uses a lot of beans but I feel the result is great tasting coffee. For me, it's worth it. I also agree it is tricky to figure out how to clean and that the instruction booklet could do a better job of explaining and illustrating. At one point, I had to call Cuisinart because I thought it was broken. The representatives were extremely helpful (I was never on hold longer than a minute) and they offered to replace (at no cost) parts or the entire machine if necessary. Kudos to Cuisinart for excellent customer service. As it turned out, I just hadn't fully understood what "cleaning" entailed and did not require any replacement. If you're looking for cheap and easy coffee, this isn't it. If you want quality coffee from freshly ground beans and you're willing to pay for it, the DGB900 is a great choice.

I was looking for a moderately priced maker that would improve my coffee experience: better coffee, less clutter and fuss. What I got was just the opposite. This coffee maker does make for less clutter -- but I find that it takes more maintanance than my previous coffee maker. It requires that you clean the grinder at least once a week, and if you don't the machine will malfunction and then you have a disaster: coffee all over the countertop, or very weak coffee because of a clogged grinder. I find the whole thing to be too much hassle and the coffee, even when all is working well, is no better than my old cheap drip machine. This was not worth the money I spent on it. For coffee quality and convenience -- I much prefer the Senso pod coffee maker. Excellent European style coffee, very quick, no mess, no worry. And the price is less.

This was a great unit - my original DGB-900 lasted many years and the redesign only made it better - it enlarged the size of the coffee chute so the chute and grinding mechanism stayed clear longer and required far less cleaning than the original (still well-loved) design. Unfortunately, my Amazon purchase was poorly packed and arrived damaged. The seller was great about the return and I'll keep my eye out in case this model comes back on the market. I replaced it with a DGB-700 but I'll happily purchase another one of these as a spare!