Finally pulled the plug on this!!!!
I just doubt it's going to get any closer to $1k so just bought one.
[Also works out slightly cheaper than the last deal but make sure you click this link and see the additional offers!] (https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/840988)
To access The Good Guys commercial portal, I use Origin energy or Westpac.
UPDATE: so this was posted late last night and I just received an email, this morning, with a 10% off coupon, bringing the price down to $1,167.30
Having had both, I completely disagree with you that the Gaggia makes a better coffee.
The Breville is a seriously underrated machines.
Seconded
@G-rig: If you spent even 5 minutes looking around on Google you'd see that the BDB is a superior machine than your Gaggia classic
@G-rig: The thing is we are very fortunate in Australia that the BDB is regularly sold at a heavily discounted MSRP. It competes overseas with machines 2-3x its cost in the 2-3ks USD. If you have the money for a machine in the 1ks, there really is no better alternative
Comparing to your Gaggia, it seems like the main differences (apart from the dual boiler) are that it has PID for precise temperature control and 9 bar OPV
@G-rig: This Breville is no Sunbeam.
Yes the beans make a difference. Technique becomes more and more important the more fickle your machine is.
@G-rig: Methinks someone is speaking without knowledge. The Breville Dual Boiler has near-legendary status in Espresso Machine lore, a huge community of followers and a healthy modding community. From a functional perspective, it is equivalent to a $5K Italian machine. Don't believe me? Meh - Believe Lance instead…. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=425zem1rk_4
PS Sunbeam is not Breville.
I almost bought it at $900, 3 years ago. Between my wage stagnation, inflation of all goods and services, and the mortgage going up, I cant justify the price anymore. Feels like running and still falling behind.
But are you buying coffee outside? If so this would save you.
$949 on ebay (with code MAYSAV) if you are willing to cop a refurbished unit.
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/364760074239
Yeah, I'd go a refurb, as a new one will eventually need an elbow replaced anyway. Might as well get it done in advance.
If you are worried about warranty….buy 2… and still be better off. $560 collect or $45 delivery for my state.
https://www.sparepartsforcoffeemachines.com.au/cart-page
These are $500 - $750 machines
Are there any advantages or manufacturing updates that have been made to the newer brand new models vs refurb?
Edit: this was answered below, there was an internal update in 2022. Will just wait for a better new deal.
What did you mean to link to?
Hot damn, got one of these new for under $1k maybe 18 months ago. Such a shame the prices have increased so much
Awesome machine but, love it.
It was $1167.30 at JB Hi-Fi yesterday with the 10% off perks code. I'm still hoping it gets lower again.
Brother that's way too much post covid. Wow
It's been this price for months. As already stated, was cheaper at JB just this week, so not a deal.
Yep this is no way a deal…
I purchased one from JB Hi-Fi Osborne Park, Perth in mid-May for $1050. No sales, simply asked for a better price and noted previous sales around the $1k mark. It’s worth going into stores until you find the right salesperson. This salesperson was more than happy to do a deal and knew their info on the machine. Online JB price beat don’t help.
Damn I tried last weekend at JB in Malaga and they wouldn't go below $1250-something :(
Regularly sub-$1K, I wouldn't be paying $1224 that's for sure unless you're desperate.
Eww brother! That's exxy. Should start with a 9.
I know COVID inflated prices but before then this was regularly $800 or lower. I paid $700 odd, actually it was less than $800 for a bundle with the Breville grinder.
No excuse for this price for such an old model now.
I'm sorry for your loss of money at this price
it’s a great machine, was lucky in that mine was precovid pricing, but if you need a coffee machine, how long do you wait and not have coffee? Once you own a decent coffee machine you have coffee at home and save a lot of money compared to a cafe, and you don’t need to get dressed to get a coffee. Enjoy your breville dual boiler regardless of the price, mine has made over 2000 cups and still going strong.
got one about 12 months ago for 950, wonder if we will ever see sub 1k again, great machine however.
Nope. I didn't want the refurb model. All the advice from the post back then was to avoid the refurb.
Now, based on the advice here today, I'm starting to wonder if I should return it as soon as it arrives and try to get it cheaper at JB, the way some others have done.
My current one has gotten worse, but I've been dealing with it.
I purchased my current one in June 2020, so it's now just about 4 years old.
I might go past today and see if they'll do a better deal than ordering online. If so, I'll return this one and buy it cheaper.
@the-rabs: I should update the post with the deal from today. I just got an email with a 10% off coupon!
This needs to be sub $1000 to be a deal.
Man, I wished I pulled the trigger on one of these back a few years ago, they got down to about $680. Pulled the trigger about 2 years ago at about $880.
As some extra information - maybe the extra cost have gone into the changes to the machine. In 2022 these machines changed the design from o-rings to compression fittings inside the machine on the steam boiler. The older design was plagued with steam leaks and the newer design is much better.
I just missed out on the updated version when I bought mine and sure enough mine started hissing with an internal steam leak in one of the internal temperature probes. I only had about 700 shots pulled on the machine in two years. I fixed it myself but would have taken ages to get fixed by Breville even if it was inside warranty. The newer machines should be alot better in this known weak point.
Just change them yourself.
Here is the size
https://www.bluestarcoffee.eu/Mobile/us/Universal-Push-elbow…
My hard rubbish Barista Express now has push fittings (I found some on eBay for $5 - but currently sold out).
My dual boiler just packed it in after five years hard work with minimal care and maintenance. Spoke to Breville CS and they offered me a new Dynamic Duo (with grinder) for 50% off RRP, so $1k delivered. Pretty good deal I think and excellent customer service when they owe me nada.
I just tried their online chat and I had this as a response "We do not offer any discounts for a dual boiler"
Was this for a new or refurb? Did you have to call them for this?
Same, got the BDB + Grinder for $949 delivered with confirmation. I also plan on selling the grinder as I already have a few electric grinders on hand.
What grinder?
Smart Grinder Pro
@G-rig: Sorry I should clarify. I already have a great standalone grinder (Baratza Encore) but I wanted to upgrade my existing machine to a Breville Dual Boiler.
The cheapest way I could do that was to purchase the Breville Dual Boiler + Smart Grinder Pro package. I'll sell the Smart Grinder Pro when it arrives :)
@tommynolips: Ok, yes I gathered that.
I was simply going to recommend a cheap one to a mate, that is all.
I’ve been considering one of these for the last few months but at those prices, it makes me enjoy my Bambino Plus and SGP even more!
Even if you do upgrade from the Bambino plus to a BDB, there will be almost no change in your cuppa. Upgrading your grinder will dramatically improve your coffee in which you'll actually start to taste the flavour notes described by your roaster.
Excellent machine. Think I paid around $800 with the grinder about 6+ years ago now. Only repair I had to make was replacing the solenoid, which I did myself.
Great machine but terrible deal
Just my 2c but if you are going to spend $1200 you would be better served investing a little more and getting an actual coffee machine and not an appliance that will fail after a couple of years. There are several machines priced under $2k that would serve you for many years to come.
I had one of the original dual boilers and yes it makes fantastic coffee but eventually started failing. I luckily had it replaced with the newer model under warranty and then sold that and upgraded to a Rocket Giotto which was slighty indulgent but the resale on proper machines that are looked after is not much less than the outlay, so you'll never lose out much.
The BDB does do decent coffee - for the money nothing comes close to it.
BUT, and it’s a deal breaker of a but for me, Breville’s build quality is not great. Some people get ages out of them, others have theirs pack up really quickly.
After Breville I bought a Lelit and am now using an ECM Casa. Oddly I preferred the quality of coffee out of the latter two. I even managed to use a BDB and ECM back to back and preferred the coffee quality out of the ECM
Not being critical but the same things always come up whenever the BDB is mentioned :)
If you're interested in the longevity and maintenance of them check out the home-barista.com forums or even the local coffeesnobs.com.au ones.
Personally I think it comes a bit down to how these machines are treated. They are not shiny E.61 machines. They look more like an appliance. And a lot of people treat them like one - like a toaster. If you have a chrome plated espresso machine you expect to have to service/maintain it - often that means sending it away to a technician once per year. People dont expect to have to do that with an 'appliance'. But these machines have servicable parts. O-rings will deterorate. Boilers will scale if you use tap (or even just filtered) water. Etc etc.
These machines do last if looked after. And maintenance is not that hard. It is true that descaling is not the best on the Breville machines. To counter that I use non-scaling water (lookup pavlis water). But scale is nasty on all machines…
BDBs manufactured post mid-2022 have compression fittings instead of O-rings which are supposed to prevent leakage issues experienced in previous sub-models, effectively making them require little to no servicing at all. Additionally, Breville doesn't require regular servicing to maintain warranty like some E61 machines.
I just checked and I bought mine in 2017 for $750. Have changed some o-rings and the Triac (which I think for cooked from steam from the failed o-ring) which were all straightforward repairs. Having a model that has been around for so long means that parts and advice are easy to come by. Espresso machines are not the most important step in making a good coffee IMHO. Ultinately, they heat water and pressurise it. Quality, fresh beans and a decent grinder are far more important. This machine ability to provide a shot based on volume makes it easy to adjust the grind and tamp to keep the extracting consistent. I pull a 60mL doubleshot and adjust the grind for a ~30s extraction and get a lovely cup.
That sounds logical and reasonable without getting carried away too much (like a lot of sensitive people on the internet).
What would you consider best 'decent' grinder under $250-300
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/comment/15328154/redir?
My grinder is an ancient sunbeam that I have been puppying along for the same amount of time. Not sure what I would replace it with. I had a look at coffeesnobs recently, where I originally got advice for the combo I got back then, and the grinders they are now recommending are eye-wateringly expensive. I would think any conical burr grinder from a reputable brand that is easy to adjust should do the trick
We probably have the same grinder, cafe series conical Burr EM0480. They do the job fine (with shim mod), and built to last as I've had one since 2008.
Yeah it's hard to part with minimum of 400- 500 these days with all the recommendations (like you should spend more on an amp than speakers mentality).
So I'll probably recommend similar. Less things to go wrong with them. These expensive ones still make a mess and have various issues, and I can't say I've ever felt the need to upgrade.
Cheers
@G-rig: Yep I reckon that's the one, although I never needed the shim mod. Puts out the correct grind between 11 and 13 on mine.
Yeah mate that sounds pretty good. I think they fixed it at some point. Used to ship a little washer and put it in.
I never even Clean mine but I think it needs doing. I'm almost down to the finest grind (Usually between and 5 anyway) works pretty well no fuss and was like 170$ back in the day.
For reference, I bought this for $640 in 2019. Although it is pre-covid price, I understand the price are higher these days, but I just didn't expect it to be over $1200 for a 920 model.
900 for Breville certified refurbished model on eBay with 1 year warranty.
Does anyone know how to check serial number on them to figure out if made post mid 2022? I remember someone posted it long time ago but can't find.
Wow, shocked at the price.