Well......it looks like I made a newbie mistake as well and I believe my post accidentally was "reply to author", so here is an attempt to re-post. At least I know how to PM someone on this site.....lol and at least it was Todd's email....another lol.
Anyhow onto to more serious stuff. I believe I have made my decision and that is to go with the Brewtus IV-R. It is definitely a good $750+ (I had no more then $1,500 planned) stretch of the proverbial budget, but I am treating this as an investment in a kitchen appliance. I can not stand noise, love quality components and get into mechanically things as a hobby. Also, I have the ability to plumb via access from the basement with my RO drinking water unit and refrigerator line. I just have to check the pressure over the weekend and make sure it is under 30psi as well as hope that the RO unit does not strip too much minerals from my water as to not trip the brew boiler's interior probe unit. To that end, I looked at the Duetto II and the Vibiemme DD. Both are great machines and I would be overly satisfied with them; especially the Vibiemme which looks quite slick. But both are more money and I simply did not see any glaring bells & whistle to justify another $200-500 more. With WLL 10% discount they now have advertised, I can potentially get into the IV-R and the Vario for under $2,400. I currently have a Gaggia Classic and was looking at the Silva, Silvano, Crossland CC1 and a couple of more machines in the $600-1,200 range. Unfortunately, there are no units in the $1,200-2,000 range AT ALL. There are no tweener machines in the moderate price range IMHO and I do not want to face another buyers remorse like I have with the Gaggia Classic....a nice machine but let's face it it does not even come close to a DB machine. I really never gave an HX machine a look simply because I am not into scientifically monitoring temperature surfing, etc to get a good shot. Again, probably great machine and definitely have their purpose in the espresso world, but not my cup of tea:-). So all of this put me in the DB category and thus into stretching my budget far more then I wanted too, but I am going to treat myself with a new toy and enjoy it. I also chose the Brewtus because I've had a VERY positive experience with WLL and still can't believe some of the comments towards WLL. I completely understand any company is going to have staffing issues, but let's face it if you are having serious issues and the owner of the company is willing to give out his cell phone number to resolve them personally, how much more can you ask for. And let's face it, all espresso machines have sooooo many moving parts and electrical and mechanical controls, made overseas, etc, etc you are bound to have flare-ups IMHO. Well I guess I can get more winded, but you have heard it all before and I think I covered most of the reasons why I feel all three of them are great machines and I simply am going Brewtus for the lower cost and WLL service. I can't thank this group enough for such rapid response to my OP and I'm delighted by all the insightful and valued input. I will post as soon as I have the unit next week or so and update everyone how it is going. MANY THANKS again, Tony -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Brewtus" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/brewtus?hl=en.
