DeLonghi Nescafé Dolce Gusto Jovia Pod Capsule Coffee Machine, Espresso, Cappuccino, Latte and more,EDG250.B, 0.8L, Black

My sister has wanted a coffee machine for a long time, but with the amount on the market its hard to know which one to choose. When I came across this one, I knew I would be safe with the Nescafe brand. I have always chosen Nescafe coffee, so the machine was perfect for us. Although it is cheaper than some, you certainly wouldn't tell once it's up and in the kitchen. This machine looks great, and worth far more than 29.99. It was easy to set up and clean, and within moments we were ready to test it. We purchased 16 decaf pods from Tesco for 2.99 which was also a bargain, and it was with one of these that we tested it first. The machine has a lever for choosing between hot and cold, while the middle neutral position is used for stopping it. This machine may be manual, but having never owned an automatic, it is no problem for me. The coffee is ready within 60 seconds, so standing and waiting to push the lever back really isn't an issue, especially if you are on a budget and can only afford manual. For us this machine is just what we wanted. The water tank is big enough to accommodate water for two mugs of coffee, and it works fast. It also fits most mug sizes, and the drip tray is adjustable for tall or short mugs. The machine is compact and looks great on the eye, and the design matches any kitchen decor. I honestly haven't yet found anything bad about this machine. Yes, it's quite noisy, but with how fast it makes coffee it really isnt an issue. The coffee tastes great, and isn't too hot, and the machine is easy to clean and maintain. I highly recommend this to anyone looking to get their first coffee machine or perhaps looking to get rid of their old one. It gets a 5* from me.

This is the second Dolce Gusto machine I have chosen to own, the other being a Dolce Gusto Krups Lumio, there are some important differences between the two, I will discuss the Dulce Gusto generally and then the specific features available with this make.The Dolce Gusto range are pod coffee machines, there is a plastic water reservoir which is filled and filtered through the pods which are placed in a tray which is then inserted into the machine, there is a switch on the top which allows selection of hot or cold water (depending on your make this may click automatically back to neutral when the "pour" is complete or you may need to decide manually, time it and stop it) and there is a drip tray which affixes to the machine beneath where the glass or cup will sit. All machines are supplied with a pretty clear set of instructions (see accompanying picture) which explain how to set up the machine, how to prepare the drinks (some drinks require more than one pod to create them and different pods can require different volumes of water).The Jovia is different to the Lumio in a number of respects, the drip tray can be adjusted, hooking into the backboard at different heights for different sizes of glass and different sizes of beverages. The pod tray and mechanism on the Jovia, like the majority of non Lumio designs, seems to be a single piece, "bottom", as opposed to a kind of box which closes around the entire pod. The lever which opens the bay in which the tray rests seems to extend the hole punch which perforates pods when it is pushed down, at least it can be seen extending when you push the lever down without the pod tray being in place. This is the main difference that I can tell between the machines, the Lumio also is automatic and has a colour timer indicator, it is significant enough as the Lumio developed a fault which was specific to the pod tray shortly after I bought it (although the guarantee provided for a speedy replacement part being dispatched by customer service, I had not automatically assumed this would be so).Aesthetically, this machine is nice to look at and is not as large as some reviewers have made out, it does not take up that much more room than your average kettle, or so I think, the water reservoir does not hold a lot of water (say in contrast to some filter coffee machines) but I have found this a feature of both the Lumio and Jovia. For me this is not a major issue, it is just a matter of frequently refilling the reservoir, it is no big task, I accept what some people have said about the slot in which you pour the water being a lengthwise slit but it really is not a challenge to fill (at the worst a jug could be used to assist but I really dont think it necessary).I recommend both this and the Lumio, they are both great machines, both in terms of materials and function. I also think they look great too. I dont drink Nescafe instant coffee generally but I think the pods taste fine, also other brands of pod too, such as Amazon's "happy belly" range, are also great, there is even the option now of using refillable pods which you place your own grounds into.

EDIT 2022: Now had the machine for almost 2 years and I used it about 6-7 times a day and it's still going strong. I used kettle descaler liquid to clean it through when it needs cleaning ( roughly every 7-8 weeks ). Maybe I got a lucky after seeing other people's machines broken after a few weeks and mine now going on 2 years and still great.I've owned coffee machines in the past but they were so much trouble to operate and keep clean that they usually ended up in a cupboard after a couple of months.This took about a minute to assemble, a minute to read the instructions, a minute to prep with a quick pre-use clean and I was drinking my first cup of coffee inside 5 mins of opening the box! How cool is that?I have a very specific taste in coffee, I love one particular brand of instant coffee and one of the great things this machine allows you to do is simply pump out hot water. So I put coffee in my cup, put it in the machine and allow it to simply pump hot water through with no filter pods in place. The water temp of the hot water is absolutely spot on! You can be drinking the brew within a minute of the brew being made. Normally you'd boil the kettle, pour out your coffee and then have to wait 15 mins for it cool down. Obviously because it can pump out hot water within a minute you also brew up tea, soup or even Lemsip without all that tedious messing about with the kettle when you're not feeling in the best of moods.Of course the downside is that it's so easy to brew up a cup of coffee with this little machine that you find yourself drinking a lot more coffee. 10 secs to fill the little water tank on the back. 20 secs to warm up the device, then flip it over to hot water and you're drinking your brew within a minute, far too easy.Due to the way it works with or without the pods, it barely touches anything messy. The only thing that is likely to cause trouble is if you have hard water in your are from the tap, then you might need to buy a water filter to use before filling the unit but most people in hard water areas usually have water filters already so this may not be an issue.At the price and ease of use this is probably one of the best little kitchen gadgets I've used in years. I've a spare couple of minute, time for a another brew methinks....