great while working but broke too early
had it for less than a year. It worked perfectly fine for its size, the froth was great, etc. However, it broke too early with a sudden small explosion in the steam wires and water holder section! :-(

Great
The Espresso maker is great, makes wonderful espresso coffee. Doesn't take long for the espresso maker to warm up and start making the espresso. Sleek design makes it really easy to clean, and great for its price.

decent espresso, poorly designed
This machine makes decent espresso, but has many design flaws. The carafe is difficult to clean, due to a narrow opening and wide bottom. The top where you put the water in is difficult to unscrew, especially if your hands are even a little bit wet, because it is smooth, with smooth ridges that do nothing to help grip it. About the third time I used it, my son told me it was leaking as he sat nearby eating his cereal, I thought it was just the steam escaping, but when I watched next time, a fair amount of water was squirting out from where the filter basket attaches to the machine, before it even reached the coffee...good thing there is a removable drip tray to catch all the water. Enough gets through to make the espresso, but I worry that it will get worse. Also, every third run or so, the machine makes a very sudden, loud noise...I thought it was my smoke alarm going off the first time! It doesn't last very long, but it would wake up the house if anyone else were sleeping still. My old Krupps was much better, I had it for 11 years before the seal gave out.

Compact Great Coffee Broke after 4 months
We really enjoyed this compact sleek machine. Made wonderful coffees. I even bought one as a gift because I liked it so much. However, after 4 months we heard a "pop" and something must have broken inside the machine. Too Bad. We plan to contact the company this week and will follow up and let you know how the issue was dealt.
On another note, check out your local "Walgreen" becuase they sell a white coffee maker. the advantage is that you can return it there (without paying for shippment) especially if it breaks after 4 months.

Follow up- There is a one year warranty. Therefore, we just need to send a sticker from the bottom of the machine + receipt + a shipping and handling fee of .50 and a new machine will be sent to us. It is a bit disheartening that because of a problem with the 4 month old machine we have to pay 1/3 of its price, but it's better than nothing.. Therefore I can change the rating of the machine to 4 stars..

Fabulous machine for the price!
I bought this machine a year ago and this was my first espresso machine. It has been wonderful; I have had no problems with it. Just make sure you clean the milk off of the wand after you use it and you should have no problems with the steamer. A great machine at a great price!

Steam Pours Out...
Bought first one and steam poured out of the sides and front at a heavy pace, near the end of the brew (kept engaged in the brew selection as I don't use froth). Felt the filter holder and filter did not create a tight enough seal as it slid on and off too easily. Returned it for a second unit and this one did the same thing even though the seal felt tight. Have had espresso makers for at least 15 years and have never seen such steam as to wet the entire upper unit and my cabinets.

Expensive and Worth It
For years, have enjoyed the Capresso 121. Clever design, good espresso for the price, good entry level machine. Come Father's Day last, decided to splurge on a big step up. A lot of money and so approached this with considerable trepidation. Has proven to be worth every penny.

After months of heavy use, machine continues to reliably make outstanding espresso with complete control: grind, amount of grounds per cup, size of pour for espresso shot and for crema, program to optionally purge each time turned on, ... Can easily bypass hopper to do a shot from grounds you have prepared yourself: essential for us when entertaining for those who want decaf or for when my wife or I want to try a special roast.

Steams milk effectively and continually. Hot water for tea works fine. Easily kept spotless clean inside and out.

Bit of a coffee nut -- roast my own specialty beans each week. This machine gets the most out of the carefully selected beans and carefully chosen roast levels. When we travel out-of-town for the weekend, I even have been known to sneak the Palazzo in the car knowing my wife will tease me but also knowing that there are very few local coffee shops around our state that take the care necessary to match what we will have at hand in the motel room.

We use this machine in our office and love it
It makes fabulous coffee with the perfect layer of crema on top. Highly recommended.

Modern addition to the counter top
Mr. coffee always a reliable brand name but we expect even more for an espresso maker. We are very happy with this model and enjoy the modern look so perfect for a city environment. The price is right, just buy it!

Cute... but an ergonomic and reliability disaster
Have had this unit two years during which time I have replaced the top cap which completely disintegrated, presumably from pressure and heat. Also as mentioned elsewhere, the plastic handle on the filter broke off. I was able to fabricate a new one in my garage from a piece of pipe and epoxy glue a 1000 times better than the original. Mr Coffee should be embarrassed but I'm almost certain they really don't give a damn.

The design team at Mr Coffee needs to go back to school and learn a bit of common sense. What were they thinking? The control knob steam/coffee is too small, slippery and VERY difficult to turn. Grannie and any arthritics out there, forget this machine. Reservoir has to be filled for each use. Recently I have been getting a leak at the joint with the filter basket. No replaceable part or fix possible there, so it may be so long in short order.

Coffee produced is fine. Frother arm is fixed but works OK. I do appreciate the small carafe provided and the unit is tall enough to allow a mug to be used instead. Note: not setup for use with two coffee cups.

Would I buy it again? Only if nothing better in this low cost price range. (I refuse to put out 100s of dollars for a Cadillac machine after reading the almost universal horror stories of their proud owners.)

Arthritic hands?
Pay attention to the caution by another reviewer about difficulty turning knobs and caps. It's a problem.

Great inexpensive latte maker
I was looking at all types of expensive expresso makers (0 - 0) with the foamer for lattes. I was so confused, that I decided to order this Mr. Coffee product and it works great. - ! It is simple, quiet and you can even do the milk alone for hot chocolates.

Very happy! A few responses...
I am extremely happy with this little espresso machine! I read tons of the reviews before purchasing this, and have some responses that I would've appreciated before I bought this machine.

Knob- I haven't found this to be hard to turn at all, unless you have wet hands or something like that.

Frother- the "frothing attachment" just makes milk ridiculously bubbly. After taking it off, all the difficulty I had trying to froth milk was gone. For a beginner like me, it is good to know how easy it is!

Leaking- the machine hasn't leaked at all for me. It drips if you have excess pressure built up that you don't release.

Cheap parts- don't manhandle the thing and you will be fine! If you jerk on the brew basket when putting it on, it will break. The carafe is glass; don't drop it. Yes, some parts are plastic. It wouldn't be a good idea to step on them or anything. The carafe lid isn't tight, but it doesn't fall off or anything.

Coffee/grind- buy good coffee, grind it for espresso. I went to my local coffee shop, bought espresso beans and asked them to grind it for me. Perfect. No problems.

The only criticism I have for this machine is the serving size. You must make at least two servings. As best I can tell, one "serving" on this machine is about equivalent to two shots of espresso. You can't simply make less, because if you do there won't be enough steam built up to be able to froth the milk. In fact, I usually have to add extra water to make sure I have enough steam.

Read the instruction manual and you will have no issues.

all good
This was my first order on Amazon. The first shipping was damaged and I was very pleased by the prompt replacement of the coffee machine. thank you.

Handy little espresso machine
This machine replaced the earlier Krups version that we had used for 20+ years. The new one is more elegantly styled, but the attachment of the lid to the glass carafe is inconvenient and clumsy. Aside from that, the machine is fine, quick, easy to use.

Not a good cup of joe!
I was excited to try this new machine. After weeks of daily tries of making a good cup of coffee, I gave up and asked for a return authorization. I tried filtered vs. tap water and different coffee grinds. I sent the machine back. No regrets. It's off my counter.

Krups must have fired their engineers and outsourced this product
Every morning my wife and I brew beans ground from her family's coffee farm in Honduras. All we really want is a small machine that brews really hot coffee. We previously had the small Krups expresso machine, purchased in the 90's, which worked great for many years. It had a metal tank, brewed quickly, and didn't leak. When that machine finally got tired, we figured Krups had treated us well, so we went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond and bought the Krups replacement model advertised here. Somewhere in the intervening years, Krups must have fired their engineers and outsourced design and manufacturing to create what the industry euphemistically calls an "entry-level model." The replacement Krups had a plastic tank, took up more space with useless stylistic flourishes, didn't brew as hot or quickly as the previous model, and leaked water and grounds while it was brewing. We suffered the machine's tyranny unbelievably for two years until we recently called it quits and sent it where we should of sent it on the first day after we got it--to the county landfill. We're now waking up contentedly to hot coffee brewed quickly and cleanly by our similarly priced DeLonghi espresso maker recently purchased from Amazon.

Very Nice Machine
We were looking for an inexpensive Espresso Machine that didn't take up much counter space. I am a big fan of Krups, so we gave it a try. We have been using this machine for the past 6 years and it is still working great. Every once in a while when the coffee comes out slow, we run an Espresso machine cleaner through it and it works just fine again. Not sure what everyone is doing to make it spew coffee and knobs and handles breaking. We love this machine.