Strengths:Same as first review
Weaknesses:Same as first review
Posted Mar 31, 2008 - We've now had our DCC-1200 for about 2 1/2 years, and it still is as good as the day we first plugged it in. You can read my original review if you scroll down through the older reviews. That review was written after owning the machine for about a year.
One thing that has impressed me since writing the original review is the "cleaning cycle" function. It took nearly two years for the coffee maker to finally tell me that it was time to clean it. We followed the instructions exactly and the results were amazing. This thing does not do cleaning like every other coffee maker; it's different. It has a special cycle that runs when you clean it, and it is very efficient. We captured the "debris" that was removed from the mechanism using a regular filter. We couldn't believe how much "stuff" was purged from the machine.
In over two years, nothing has failed. The clock will survive minor "power failures" without resetting to "12:00 AM" every time. A prolonged power failure will cause it to loose the time setting, but the electronics must have a storage capacitor in the circuit that let the clock hold it's settings through minor "power blips" that we have often here in Houston. If the power is off for longer than, say, 30 seconds, it probably will need to be reset, but it's great to not need to reset the clock.
We are careful to be certain that the carafe is underneath the basket valve correctly when we set up the machine, so we haven't had the spillage problems others have had. I can see how that could happen if the valve on the basket isn't open as it should be when the carafe is in position on the warming plate.
Speaking of the warming plate, we still have to keep ours at the middle temperature setting; "High" is still too hot for us.
I generally set this machine up in the evenings, before bed, so I'm not so groggy when I pour the water into it. I can see how some folks might thing the water opening is a mite too small for early morning setups. Personally, we don't ever spill any water, but maybe others are more shaky early in the morning. My advice: just set it up before you go to bed!
If this coffee maker failed, I would immediately go purchase another identical to it. In fact, if I ever hear that it is to be discontinued, I will actually go buy another one and keep it in the box until the day ours dies (which I'm sure it will ...someday).
This is far and away the best coffee maker I've ever run across, and I hope they keep making them for many years. We would have had to buy at least two lesser machines by now. It's paid for itself, and that's what we were looking for when we originally bought it.
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Cuisinart DCC1200 Brew Central coffee maker
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