DeLonghi Perfecta ESAM5500

Let me start by saying that this semi-automatic machine can make you a nice enough cup of coffee while you are busy doing something else and if that was the only point of judging then it would be 5 stars but there's more to an automatic coffee machine that just serving coffee.
firstly ease of cleaning, this machine needs to be cleaned inside and out nearly every single day, the infuser doesn't quite meet the end of the grinder meaning that ground coffee gets everywhere. even when the used coffee pucks are discarded, they don't fall into the bi...

Coffee comes out horribly bitter. Yes I know one needs to adjust the settings and all that, but I think I just got a dud machine. Coffee is horribly bitter regardless of whether one uses the most coarse or finest grind size (finer is definitely worse though). I've tried dozens of different coffee beans as well. I've also tried the available temperature settings. I've never had such difficulty with a machine. Bought a machine that's 1/5 of the price and get much better coffee. Very disappointed in this machine.

I just purchased this coffee machine for $375 refurbished on eBay.

It is very easy to clean, as you just press a button on the milk jug for 8 seconds after every use and just quickly wipe the nozzle on the machine with a wet cloth. That’s all there is to the regular cleaning of it. Occasionally it will tell you when it needs to be de-scaled and then you just fill the water tank with water, add descaler, and the machine will pump the water through itself.

It is easy to use for such an intelligent machine, as I had it making cappuccinos the...

coffee is great when it works which was for 1 year .. it's been serviced/fixed several times under extended warranty but has never been the same
the piston thing where the grounds get auto tamped down has a scored barrel and muck gets past it's O ring .. it's
back in being fixed again for the last time at extended warranty place .. if this doesn't help it will get 1 more chance a a real De longi service place

Bought this machine for work, we would make minimum 30 cups a day and even more than double on a busy day. We never had a problem. Always perfect cupcake and nice and hot. Easy for cleaning and refilling. Very happy for a machine that get used really well every day.

Poor quality design especially the ground coffee container's size that leaves about 1 mm of gap between the container and the tray's container's socket. The size of the ground coffee container was clearly wrong. As a consequence of this careless and poor design, the ground coffee container accidentally slipped off from the micro switch's button which triggers the "insert ground coffee container!". Also, the service door does not seem to work properly or maybe it failed to press the micro switch button which prompted close the door error message...

Use Custom Coffee from Bendigo and works to perfection. Purchased two machines because so impressed! Great taste not bitter and delivers hot coffee not warm as many other machines do.Not complicated to operate and easy to clean.purchased second hand 2016.
My salon clients all rave about the coffee we make them.

Was given a second hand unit as a gift as original owner now uses pods. Takes a while to find what brand of beans you like best but with a bit of experimentation a good cup of coffee can be obtained. After reading reports of luke warm drinks I was concerned I may not get a hot cuppa but when set to hot it is good. Can use powder coffee if necessary and can select 5 strengths of beans and 5 volumes of water. My unit is faulty as I cannot do Cappuchino or dispence hot water but that is not a drama. All told I am happy with this unit. Checking ststs. this machine has made over 9200 coffees.

Diffuser has to be replaced again, the machine gets a lot of use, and i can understand it is not a commercial grade machine. We dropped the machine off early Feb 2015 to have the front door & diffuser replaced ($260) it is now April and I still don't have the machine back?? constant phone calls to the repairer all with the same response.. Still waiting on the parts from Delonghi! Apparently this is a very common issue and there is nothing I can do about it. Not good enough Delonghi. After sales service is terrible!!

Machine was solid for 13 months; then we began the repeated back to the service center cycle. Charged $400 for a replacement part when the machine was 14 months only. Back at the repair center for the same problem over and over again, completely ignored by DeLonghi when contacted. Finally off to consumer affairs... This might be a good model for some; but good luck if anything goes wrong.
When new, made nice coffee.
Poor reliability, terrible customer service from DeLonghi

Having worked as a Barista for over 4 years I was skeptical about giving this a go, as I have tried other "home" machines and been disappointed with the outcome and amount of time it takes to make a coffee. This machine will surprise you! Easy to operate, just fill it up with beans and water, plug the milk jug in and you're away.
Fast start up, rinses itself clean (easy to clean what it doesn't), displays straightforward messages (fill tank / empty grinds container etc)

Certainly would purchase a Delonghi product again! We love our machine and friends and family often comment that they can't beat the 'Cafe'' type service at our house!!
This is a great looking machine. We've had our maching for just on 12 months and it's still making coffee like it did when we first bought it!
Delonghi service is excellent, we've had our machine serviced once and it was picked up and returned in an acceptable time frame (without getting withdrawals from that caffine hit!! lol)
As like the other reviewers we did feel the temp...

Not a bad machine but i was expecting a little more for $1700. Really basic to use but unfortunately the cappucino doesn't come out overly hot. It is a little plasticy but I wasn't prepared to pay more for a higher model.
simple and easy to use
coffee isn't great... but it isn't bad

I rang up Delonghi and they are going to send out a new part that go's in the mike jug to slow down the flow of the milk to make it hot so only time will tell I don't know why they don't put it in with it when you buy it, but other than that it is a good machine.
It make's coffee quick and easy and its a very nice looking macine and very easy to program.
When we first got it it took a lot of mucking around to set the grind right and another thing is if you don't use the right milk you will get a watery coffee and its true what people say about auto machines that they don't make the coffee hot enough well this is the same.

I have had many coffee machines and this is the best so far, certainly convenient to have a milk jug and create a capucinno in minutes after pulling it from the fridge. We also had the ESAM4500 and the jug with that machine is much harder to clean properly. The new round design is much better; cleaning the plastic pipe is still a challenge.

As much as I like the jug there are times I would like to do a manual froth; doesn't appear any machines can support both approaches to frothing milk??? This is especially the case when the jug doesn't pr...