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Krups Dolce Gusto Circolo
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Leaving the totally different design for the moment the main difference is that a higher pressure is used to brew the coffee.
The machine is shaped like a rather squashed ‘0’ with the actual cup placed in the centre of the ‘0’. The dimensions are 32cm tall, 30cm wide and 18cm deep. The back is made of a plastic material which forms the water tank.
The unit is silver grey and somewhat as a surprise to me anyway I cannot see the Circolo name anywhere on the box or the unit. Yes, of course the shape is 'Circolo' but I would have at least expected the name on the outer box that just says Nescafe Dolce Gusto and Krups. The way I can tell it from earlier boxes is the light blue upper quarter of the box as well as half of the top. If you can see the front then the futuristic design is also clearly visible.
The area within the ‘0’ is black and whilst you have the unit switched on there is a light shining into the cup or mug you are making coffee in as otherwise seeing how far up the cup or mug the liquid is would be rather hard to do.
At the top of the ‘0’ is where the pod is inserted in a drawer that is slightly magnetised so it always shuts fully.
The on/off button glows red while water is being heated and shows green when ready to produce coffee. The older models had this on the side and it could be difficult to see, here it is towards the top and always fully visible.
Of course the shape and design are really less important unless ‘status and style’ are what matters to you. The most important thing to me and I suspect 98% of others is taste. While there have been a very few detractors over the last three and a bit years since my review of their original machine, the vast majority agree with me that the taste from the pods is as good as a decent coffee house coffee, especially should you like things like a Cappuccino.
If I have a criticism apart from the price rise – but then what dose not – is that Nescafe so far refuse to sell the milk pods separately. Yes in say a Chococino or Cappuccino pack you get eight coffees and eight milks but often people like other coffees types that are sold just as boxes of coffee, so what do you then do add ordinary milk?
The Manual and Getting Started guide are in the modern multi language format with almost all the instructions accompanied by an illustration. I note that everywhere but France (one year) gets a two year guarantee.
There are several new ‘Decaffeinated’ versions as well as something that merits a trial Cappuccino Ice the first item to make use of the cold (blue) side of the three position control lever. Blue for cold and red for hot with stop in the middle.
As with previous machines you get a box of sample pods to start you off, when you register you get sent a voucher to buy a box of pods of your choice and you also get points towards various purchases from Nescafe, each extra box of pods you purchase has an additional code on the inside to allow you increase your points.
If anything this is the best machine yet, howeverit gets a lower smiley score simply because at the mopment no one is discounting it.
Doing my Internet searches found the Nescafe Dolce Gusto Krups Circolo machine at a best price of £99.99 including free delivery from the first link below.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002EEP0DM?ie=UTF8&tag=gadge0a-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634
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Comment by bob laing, 10 Feb 2013 10:37