Good machine, but flawed
590264
The machine itself is fine, at least for most people.  The carafe is well built and the machine functions very well. I will even admit the coffee it makes is nicely brewed.  However, if like me, you want hot coffee, this is not the pot for you.  If you have a crippling fear of being scalded, or want a cup of coffee you can guzzle immediately after pouring, then this is a perfect coffee maker.  For me, though the taste is fine, the temperature leaves much to be desired.  Even pouring a cup right after the brewing cycle is complete yields a brew that to me, barely qualifies as drinkable. And even though the carafe does maintain this temperature for well over an hour, I find myself constantly popping the mug in the microwave to warm it.  A good machine but a fatal flaw in my opinion.
1438707
Notice how the reviews for this icemaker are either love it or hate it?  A dependable version of this machine is very nice indeed.  We have had this machine for over a year and we like the ice it makes--when it works.  It tends to "hang"--that is, it stops working.  Sometimes I can get it to work by nudging the little arm that pushes the ice into the storage bin and sometimes I can't.  The best way to get it to work is to talk loudly with my wife about sending it to the dump or to actually get online shopping for a new one, like I am now.  Today, with some difficulty, I have finally gotten it to work.  ;=)  More seriously, like many things of Chinese manufacture, this item is not dependable.  It would be very helpful if Amazon would tell us the country of manufacture in their descriptions.
2928609
This machine has one solid and serious flaw.  The retina display is not nearly as bright as previous versions of this system.  Placed side by side this machine is noticeably dimmer.  Before purchasing this system I would strongly suggest handling it at the Apple store.

These are expensive machines and I expect something like a display to be flawless.

Brightness is not a reflection of display resolution, which is outstanding, but brightness is important to me.  Working in bright places like data centers or outside is more difficult with a dim display.

The good news is the rest of the machine is build well, the keyboard, case, and ports all are what you would expect.  The OS is stable and mature and comes with a good assortment of tools.

My last 2 generations of these systems lasted 5 years or more and survived abuse laptops get in travel.
2555802
First, the good news: when the machine works, it makes excellent coffee.

Now the rest of the story.  We bought this machine ten months ago.  In that time, the machine has broken four times.  We're now on our fifth breakdown.  I have logged several hours with Jura-Capresso's customer service people (or on hold waiting for them), with wildly mixed results.  At times, they have been helpful, promptly sending a new machine to replace the broken one.  At other times they have been unhelpful and rude.  The head of their customer service has insisted to me that they don't have problems with their machines, suggesting that the recurring issues we were having were somehow caused by us.

We have asked repeatedly whether we could return the machine for a refund, but Jura-Capresso says they don't give refunds.  So now I guess we're stuck with sending this machine back for repairs every time it breaks -- until the warranty runs out, of course.  $2000 for two years of coffee.  Not quite what we had in mind.
1765046
I really liked this machine -- the espresso was very good and the steamer heated quicky....until it broke less than two years after purchase.  For the cost of the X3, I expect more longevity.  Since I am beyond the one-year warranty, the repair is at my expense, which is estimated to be $300, plus shipping and handling both directions (around $20 each way) -- which is almost the cost of a new machine.  So, in spite of the nice brew, I can't recommend this machine --it's simply too costly for you and the environment to purchase a machine that breaks so quickly.
3037567
I have to agree with many of the other reviewers who like this router for its smoothness, power,and low noise level. The grips are great, it plunges nicely, and the quality of materials seems top rate. However, my experience with this router has revealed two flaws that greatly detract from what would otherwise be a truly fine machine. While these flaws are not necessarily deal-breakers, those of you who are considering buying this tool may want to be aware of them.

First, as another reviewer has pointed out, it is impossible to accurately center template guides within the base plate. The user must screw the template guide holder into the baseplate, and since the holder does not precisely register into the baseplate, it is thus extremely difficult to accurately center the guides. If you use template guides and require even a moderate degree of accuracy, this flaw is a deal-breaker. Do not buy this router. On the other hand, if you never use template guides or plan on parking this baby in a router table, you'll have no problems. This would be a fine router for those purposes.

The other problem is another quality/design issue that can be remedied but is a moderate annoyance. On my machine, the release/locking lever for the plunge mechanism came loose on several occassions, making it impossible to plunge and lock the router at a desired depth. There is a small set screw in the lever mechanism that works loose and has to be constantly  tightened and adjusted. This problem is not an isolated incident as it also has occured with two other cabinetmakers and their identical routers in my shop. In the end, having tired of constantly fiddling with our machines, the three of us adjusted the mechanisms as best we could, applied Lock-Tite to the set screws, and hoped we did it right because there would be no way to disassemble the levers once the Lock-Tite cured. Fortunately, the fix worked fine, and all three of us are happily using our machines without any problems. Again, not a deal-breaker and the problem was fixed, but this seems unnecessary for a $200 router.

The other router to consider in this price range is the DeWalt DW625 3 HP plunge router. Though it has more power than the PC 8529, it is the same size and weight. It's also variable speed and would be great in a router table. I've never been a huge DeWalt fan (many of their products seem overrated and overpriced), this seems to be an excellent machine. Several of the guys in my shop own them and use them for the dual purposes of plunge operations as well as major hogging through lots of material (the extra hp makes a big difference). Add it to your list of possibilities.
1584064
The machine has many functions, and I like that.  The issues I see is it can be a little tedious putting it together as the paint is thick and does not allow the bolts to slide in.  My machine came with a crooked leg attachment.  It looks like it was welded at an angle and the right side sits higher than the left side.  Not good.  I called Dosho, they said no problem, a technician will contact me.  No call, I called again and they had no idea who I was.  This person told me no problem, got my information and will send it right out.  I waited a week, called again to verify, and no idea who I was and that I had called before.  This person told me to email the technician on my own.  I decided to send an email to customer service stating I will just return the machine for a full refund.  Miracuously they called me within one hour of the email and said they will create a tracking number so everything is documented and send me a new leg attachment.  They did do so, but then the new leg attachment was slightly different.  It had a nut welded to it where my old on did not, so it required different hardware to attach it.  I emailed the same person who sent me the new part and now I have waited a week to hear from a technician about getting one bolt to put this new part on.  I have offered to send pictures, everything, but no response.  I am writing this review because $500 is too much money when I have not been able to properly use this machine for months.  Customer Service could have made me give them a great review, but the customer service is severly lacking.  I still cannnot using the leg extension and I will be returning the machine for a full refund.
1292767
I bought my Horizon EX-67 Elliptical approximately two and a half years ago.  I have to say, for most of that time, I was very satisfied with it.  I had to do some routine maintenance -- lubing and tightening mostly, to rectify the periodic increase in squeeking/clicking -- but otherwise it held up well to rigorous use (FYI, I'm an average size male).  It really is a sturdy machine that feels a lot like the Precors in the gym.

Up to about four months ago, I would have rated it at 4 or 4.5 out of 5 stars.  But most recently, it started to really break down.  Because of what I later determined to be two missing washers in one of the internal assemblies, a part called a "flange bearing" had almost entirely worn down over the two years of use, with a resulting pile of metal shavings to show for it.  My calls to Horizon customer service were not fruitful and I was left in the position of having to do the repairs myself with parts I could acquire at Home Depot / Lowes.  After about a month of trial and error, fixing all of the various worn flanges/washers, I finally got the machine to work another two months.  But just this week, it locked up again and I completely broke off one of the pedal arms (i.e. I wrenched apart one of the welds) attempting to use the elliptical.  After that final straw, I am willing to declare it dead and move on -- I think I am at the point of diminishing returns in terms of repairs.

So it's been a great elliptical, but it's a little frustrating to spend $800 and only have it last 2 years.  I'm not saying don't buy this elliptical, but be forewarned that it's an investment that might not last all that long, even with periodic maintenance.
4028286
Imagine my surprise when with each cycle the machine beeped 15 or more times. I looked in the manual and realized that the first cycle should beep 5 times, the second 6 times and lastly 15 times. Mine beeped 15, 16 and then 15 more. That's a lot of beeping! I unplugged the machine and let it sit overnight in hopes it was a fluke and it would reset itself. The next morning I baked another loaf of bread. The beeping continued. I called Cuisinart's customer service and they told me that it was an actual issue with the unit and could not be reset in any way, so back it goes. If you have no one in your house that sleeps at odd hours, it might not be a problem. I have a husband who goes to bed at 7:00 p.m. and a disabled daughter who sleeps odd hours. A few beeps would have been fine, but 46 beeps making one loaf of bread was a bit overkill. I recognize it was just defective. No harm, no foul.

I made two loaves of bread with this machine. Both times the setting was on medium, but the bread turned out what I would consider light on top. Still, the bread was delicious. The machine is well-constructed and would look nice on the countertop. I liked the array of features to choose from. This is much different than the old bread machines. I would have kept the machine had the beeping aspect of it functioned correctly.
2633434
I love my Toshiba Satellite.  It was up and running out of the box without a glitch in any way.  The keyboard has the nicest
touch response I've ever experienced, although I must point out a major design flaw on the part of Toshiba: the one and only way to power the computer comes by way of a button of the detachable wireless keyboard.  So if something happens to your keyboard, you are not going to be able to plug in an external keyboard and operate this unit.  Bad planning by the product engineers, I would say.  Another minor ergonomic quibble relates to the Disc drive drawer, whose button is practically impossible to locate
by touch alone.  (The "open" button is recessed to the point where it is practically flush with the drawer.) I've learned to
use the "eject" button on my Windows Media Player rather than
hunt for the hidden "eject" button on the drawer itself!)  Also,
the floppy slot is rather awkward in shape.  I don't have much
need for that format, but would be unhappy if I did.  Other than
those things, I recommend the unit heartily.  The heat and noise
is far less severe than my previous laptop units by Compaq, IBM, and WinBook.  The huge bright screen makes watching DVDs a joy.
And the navy blue and black style is more attractive than photos would indicate.
4567168
I have had other all-in-one machines before, and I considered this one OK until I found out it's flaw: if one ink cartridge needs replacement, it will not do anything else.  So, if you do buy this machine, make sure you have extra cartridges on hand.  I found this out the hard way, thinking that since I was just printing in black, I didn't have to worry about changing the cyan cartridge.  But then the printer kept giving me an error message, and I was stuck until replacing the empty cartridge.  I looked it up in the manual, and it does confirm that the printer will not work if even one cartridge is out.  My old HP (all in one) and my Lexmark did NOT operate this way!  Another bummer is that ink goes out pretty fast on this machine.

On the other hand, if scanning is important to you, the scanner works well on this and is faster than some other printers.
3477339
Very happy with the 2nd machine I purchased but it's too bad that they won't give me credit for the other machine that broke in less than fifteen times used !
326044
This is a wonderful piece of equipment that I bought for my cardiovascular exercise. I love it and it works great. I have had two problems with it right from the day I bought it and I have been hoping I could return it back or at least replace it with another one. The machine is not stable at all; it wobbles and moves when you pedal on it and one of the pedals falls off when pedaling. It makes so much noise when using it because of all the issues going on with the different parts. In as much as I am still using it for what I bought it for, however, I will not recommend it for a friend because it requires a lot of effort on my part to keep it staple and even more effort to keep replacing the pedal when it falls off.
63451
The online brochure is designed to tell you what's right with the
machine and they aren't lying about anything, it really is a well
constructed and thought out PC.

The Pros form a fairly long list so I'm just going to list what I think
is wrong.

1. The system stays fairly cool, even when doing heavy CG rendering
(using lightwave, for example), but the cooling fan sucks in air from
underneath the machine, meaning that using the laptop on your lap blocks
the fan, so it must be rested on a hard surface at all times.
2. The microphone has a very good range for programs like skype and msn,
however it is not isolated from the speakers well enough so a feedback
loop is set up very easily, requiring the use of headphones unless the
volume is kept fairly low.
3. The ambient light sensor is more of a gimmick than it's worth. Screen
brightness only really needs to be adjusted when outdoors, for example.
Overall the screen could be brighter, but I would not have noticed this
is it wasn't pointed out to me in other reviews.
4. There was relatively little, if not no bloatware installed when i
bought the machine, which was very nice. However, the drivers for the
fingerprint scanner and DVD drive were not installed either, leading to
a bit of inconvenience when setting up. I'm not sure if this is only the
case with XP.
5. The touch sensitive 'HP quick-launch' buttons stopped working after
about a week. This is a real problem as both the wireless network and
external volume controls are amongst these. I really hope HP takes
notice of this review because i honestly mean this; their customer
service is lousy. The computer was purchased with a 3-year on-site
warranty, but when I called the service department up, the best they can
do is arrange for a courier/""technician"" to pick up the machine and
deliver it to me, presumably fixed, in 7-10 days. As a university
student in Cambridge, (and I imagine this is the case for most business
laptop users) 7-10 days without a laptop is simply unacceptable. I
really fail to see the point in buying an 'on-site' warranty if this is
the best they have to offer.
After 3 weeks without a laptop I called HP and told them to forget it, and that I'll live without volume controls. During the course of my calling and nagging them (I was extremely irate at their refusal to honour their "on-site" warranty), I was met with extremely unhelpful individuals at the other end of the line, one of whom had the audacity to tell me I "should have taken it to PC world." Needless to say, I was infuriated. Even more so after I read elsewhere on the internet that HP is apparently famous for not honouring their warranties. I truly do feel duped into buying from them, and should have researched more before making a purchase.

Disregarding the unfortunate appalling service, the computer is a well
built, well designed machine. I am convinced that the problem I am
experiencing is merely a loose connection. In fact if not for the waste
of money on the warranty service, i would definitely recommend the
product to others, but I feel it is simply unfair to expect others to
put up with this. I personally can manage without a wireless card and
volume slider, and that is what i'll have to do, but if the problem was
with the keyboard, for example, i can only imagine what customers will
have to deal with.

If having a reliable laptop is important to you, please do not buy from HP.
92549
I have now used this machine for one year, in the office, 5 days a week, 1-4 cups a day, so I can give a relatively long term view of its function.
It is a good looking machine despite multiple plastic parts. It make a LOT of noise to grind the coffee, and a little less, but still quite loud to make the coffee and run the hot water cleaning cycle that occurs every time you turn it on or off (or the auto shut off feature at 3 hours of no use). The espresso shot is very good, easy to adjust to your taste with three dials (size of the grind, amount of beans ground per cup, and amount of coffee per cup). It is also very consistent. The machine itself is easy to clean.
The problems? Everything related to the hot water/milk frother spout. It malfunctions all the time, and will frequently give you a no water light indicator after using it. Such light also comes out frequently after descaling. When such light comes out, it will not brew - no matter how much water is there. You have to unplug and reset, and it will - eventually - restart. Youtube and online there are a lot of instructions on how to get around this, which shows you it is common. Those do not work very well.
203887
I am mostly happy with this machines ability to print. It does a great job with business graphics. The cons are that for a 40,000 page duty cycle it has a fairly small paper drawer and only a single sheet bypass.

Scanning is another story. I often scan multiple page documents and needed an ADF. The problem is that the dang thing jams every other job, and once it jams it can't resume the stack after the jam is cleared. First of all I'm feeding it good paper, without a lot of wrinkles or bent corners, so it should feed just fine, but it doesn't. On a stack of 20 pages it might jam 2x, requiring me to open the top of the ADF and remove the roller and pull the "stuck" page out. I then have to start a new scan job and recombine the pages later. This part sucks!

Edit: after a couple thousand pages through the document feeder scanner it is performing better. Now it's only jamming every 40 or so pages.
438494
If I had to rate the machine on dependability, I'd give it 5 stars. It consistently mixes dough well, even when making a 3-pound whole wheat loaf.

Where this breadmaker falls short is in its features. There is no "bake only" or "pause" cycles, which often has me turning on the oven if I'm doing a special loaf of some sort. The whole reason I like kitchen gadgets is to keep from turning on the oven so this machine has proven  self-defeating since I already own a Kitchen Aid stand mixer that can make excellent bread dough.

Also, I'd like to use the little baguette molds to make regular sandwich rolls from bread dough but can't because the machine will only allow for baguette dough + bake cycle (again, no "bake only" cycle). Baguettes don't interest me, but that's the only option there is on the machine, unless you use "dough only" then bake in a regular oven (which I did, but again, why buy a breadmaker if you have to use your oven?).

Cakes don't interest me either, yet there is a "cake" cycle but no "quick bread" cycle. I was surprised by this because, hellooo! this IS a BREADmaker not a cakemaker.

The machine bakes consistently but I don't use the pre-set auto cycle ever (where it is set on a timer to turn on and bake when I'm away). If I'm not around to take the bread out a few minutes before the end of the baking cycle, the loaf is dry, no matter what crust setting I choose. So far, I haven't figured out a way to turn off the "keep warm" cycle, which would help a lot. The dryness, by the way, may just be due to climatic conditions where I live.

For this much money there should be more features on this machine-- at the least, "bake only" and "quick bread" cycles.

Last but not least, the instructions for making pasta are incomplete. I guess who ever wrote the companion book and recipe booklet assumes we are all expert cooks. If I were an expert cook I wouldn't be buying a breadmachine, for crying out loud. I have never made pasta in my life and would like to have some general suggestions for the dough-- do I roll it out? How thick? How long should I cook it and how much water should I use?

I did make a cranberry and apple compote (my own recipe) for Thanksgiving and I have to say, it came out fantastic. It is probably the best thing I've made in this machine yet.

My advice would be to either get a less expensive bread maker with similar features (some that cost less than half as much have "bake only" and "quick bread" cycles), or if you want a 2-paddle breadmaker, spend just a little more and get some decent features-- features that, in my opinion, should be on this machine at this price.