This is the new 2019 model Gaggia New Classic. Made in Italy, unlike the previous Classic and seems to have excellent reviews.
$16 cheaper than the last deal
This is the new 2019 model Gaggia New Classic. Made in Italy, unlike the previous Classic and seems to have excellent reviews.
$16 cheaper than the last deal
$30 off $300+ spend for You and Your Friend (New Customers).
Looks like the sale had been magically extended.
You can still order it though. Assuming it just goes on back order?
how does it compare to the popular Breville BES870?
no grinder, but better at extracting coffee of steaming the milk
I have one of these and it’s very over rated. Mine leaked so I took it apart and it’s very basic inside. Used normal pump and boiler. The only slightly better than normal thing this has is a extraction water bypass which dumps excess water to the tray and doesn’t keep dripping onto the filter head. The stainless is thick which is good but also the plastics are crap. It’s not worth the money you pay
Replaced with a saeco unit
Yeah, I have heard of these issues. Apparently they fixed them in newer revisions?
@BigPeeper: Not sure, mine was from like maybe 7 years ago. Looks the same. There’s basically no electronics inside just wires - all manual. I guess some people like it that way.
@jackinyourbox: It's a great machine built to last. The less electronic the more durable.
Coffee is great and so is the steaming power.
@ets27: Not for the price it’s not. The problem with this unit is it cannot consistently maintain stable temperatures during the whole of the coffee extraction process. It is because of the mechanical temp sensor.
As bronk pointed out adding a PID would be adding a mini computer to regulate the extraction temps making the unit immensely better in terms of functionality.
@jackinyourbox: Phillips bought Gaggia in 2009, well actually Saeco, who owns Gaggia. They made several bad changes to the machine over the years, cheap components etc. before going back to the original design with this 2019 version. Even improved some things like the steam wand I believe.
@jackinyourbox: the 7 year ago model was made in Romania, which had a bad rep. This 2019 model shifted back to the italian made and build quality is supposedly improved. I had a 2003 model thats made in italy and it works like a champ.
@becku: Yeah. Maybe they’ve improved it. Was just sharing my past experience.
So how does it compare to the rancilio Silvia?
My Gaggia Classic was purchased second hand in 2004 and is still kicking. It's simple, repairable, and I've found it to be very robust. I've replaced the thermostat, hoses, seals, and main pump, total bill was just north of $100. It's also been professionally serviced and PID modified. Maybe it's a different era build quality, but my experience has been overwhelmingly positive with this machine.
@bronk: Awesome! Pid would bring it up there with modern units.
Ordered one back in september, still hasn't arrived and they told me another 8 weeks yesterday.
I wouldn’t buy anything from appliances online if it isn’t “in stock” already. I had a voucher I wanted to use on an item a few months ago. It’s ETA was like 3 months from when I looked at it cause it had just gone out of stock. It’s ETA was Sep, it’s now almost Nov and the ETA says it’ll be in stock in another few months lol.
I ended up buying something else. I don’t know how their stock stock levels work, but apparently the item their website showed in stock was no longer in stock after giving the customer service rep my address over the phone. Later he realised he used the wrong state with my address and the item was actually in stock in my state - do they only ship if one of their local warehouses in your area has stock? Would they not have shipped my item had I been in another state despite one of their warehouses having stock?
Unfortunate for you. There was a small amount of stock in Sept, and I ordered from from AO on 15 Sept and it arrived the next day.
I bought one as my BES920 broke down and was being repaired.
Overall impressions is that this is a decent single boiler for the price. Fast heat up. Fairly decent build quality. Steam wand is a bit fiddly (and only swivels) and doesn't produce very good microfoam.
My main gripe is clearance - it doesn't allow very high cups (e.g. latte glasses) to fit. I actually 3D printed a lower clearance drip tray with ABS plastic which works well.
3 mins lol