DeLonghi Nescafe Dolce Gusto Creativa Plus Coffeemaker, Black

This is a great coffee maker especially since i got mine from amazon for less than a hundred dollars! I was a little concerned at the reviews about the machine pooping out or some who could not understand the instructions. Believe me! It will not take a normal person more than an hour to figure out this machine from top to bottom! You simply fill with water and then select which coffee you'd like to have using the dial at the top of the machine! Once you pick which coffee you want, you press the button! The machine then shows you a picture! With an arrow pointing to the milk pod or coffee pod depending on which drink you have chosen! What could be simpler? The machine then "pours" the liquid into your cup. You will then be asked if you'd like a little more! If you don't, do nothing. If you do, then simply press the button again. The coffes are just wonderful!!! Now I admit, the cost is rather adding up. I've had the machine since October 2012 and have run through enough cartons of this stuff that I've been able to gain the pod carousel from the dolce gusto website (for free using my points). The carousel "cost" me 230 points which adds up to 23 boxes of pods at a cost of about $9 to $10 dollars a box. You can get free shipping if you buy 4 cartons from the dolce gusto site and the cartons are about $29.00 apiece so figure 4 cartons is about $120 bucks. Remember that each box contains 8 drinks if you are using milk pods, 16 if you are having regular coffee or espresso. I drink a cappucino, a skinny cappucino and an espresso daily so that adds up to about $3.00 a day. So don't buy this if money is a factor for you! The dolce gusto website has a wonderful feature where you can input your zip code and be told where you can buy these pods locally! I did this and found a Ralph's not too far away where I have even found the pods for $8 dollars when on sale. I highly recommend this coffeemake, mine is the Creativa. I had just returned from vacation to Italy and was Jonesing for a real cappucino like i experienced there and i am not disappointed. No doubt if i spent $3,000 dollars I could get a better one, but I am thrilled with this machine and experience!

I've never been much of a coffee guy; in fact, i used to hate it. Over the past coupe of years, my palate has changed and now I can't get enough of coffee . . . particularly specialty coffee. Since then I've been a regular Starbucks customer. Their lattes, macchiatos, and espressos are delicious but oh so costly. After assessing my monthly spendings, I decided it was time for a change. Enter the Dolce Gusto Creativa! This machine may "look good" but aesthetics wasn't my reason in choosing it over Starbucks own machine or the Tassimo for that matter. My cousin introduced me to the Dolce Gusto and I instantly fell in love. It appeals directly to a person like me who is all about specialty coffee drinks. Although my cousin did warn me that setting it up for the first time could be difficult (getting a "no water" warning), I didn't have that problem. After she called customer service, they informed me that the "no water" warning is actually pretty common and they ran her through a process to correct it. Apparently the "fix" is just to re-run the "start-up rinse" cycle a few times and the water will eventually enter the machine. With that said, let's get to an actual review! The machine is super easy to use. You scroll through a list of drinks and select the one you want. Once the drink is selected, it will request that you insert the first pod. The machine will instantly start dispensing the exact amount needed for that exact drink and then once finished, will request the second pod. This is how it works for specialty drinks. If you're making a regular coffee or espresso, the pod has to be in the machine prior to selecting it. This is because regular drinks start automatically once selecting. So if the pod is not in the machine, you'll end up with hot water in your mug or worse, on your counter/floor. As for coffee selections, i'd say Nestle has done a good job. It may not be as extensive as the Tassimo lineup but what is offered is pretty solid. I personally enjoy the Caramel Latte Macchiato; it is by far my favorite but I have tried and do own the rest of the lineup and enjoy them just as much. Everyone who has tried a coffee out of the Dolce Gusto has thoroughly enjoyed it and even requested information on where to buy it. I hope this review helps some of you decide. I know it was very difficult for me to choose but I'm happy with my decision. I also found that the pods are best bought from "coffee cow". You don't have to purchase them in sets of 3 like here on Amazon. Instead you can purchase them in individual packs. By the way, those packs cost around $9-$10 and consist of 8 milk/chocolate pods and 8 coffee pods. Espresso or regular coffee packs cost the same and come with 16 pods. So as you can see, significantly cheaper than a $5 Starbucks drink!

I had a DeLonghi Dolce Gusto Piccolo and the machine and coffee were excellent. I wantred to upgrade for 1) a larger water tank and 2) automated operation.. It's not worth it. The NO WATER sign keeps coming up. I tried unclogging the machine with the needle, dropped the tank up and down endless times and then just left it alone hoping gravity would work. Still got the NO WATER message.I called customer service and was told to expect a shipping label in my e-mail. I never got one! Even if I had received a shipping label I was told by customer service it would take up to six weeks before I would receive a new machine after they completely tested the one I was returning. The company knows this problem exists and yet they still sell faulty machines! Ok I am adding to this two days later. I contacted Amazon and they set up UPS to return my item. The following morning UPS came and picked up the coffee maker. By evening Amazon had returned my money. So DeLonghi thumbs down, but Amazon thumbs up!

The machine works OK but the coffee has no taste. I served it to several people asking for their opinion. All came back with the same comment. "it really has no coffee taste" Great to have a product that works well but the end game is not the machine--it's the coffee. Prorietary pods offer no other choice.

Wish I'd read all the reviews before buying this unacceptable product. Right off the bat, following the manual, I get "No Water". Full tank - 35 ounces. Turn off, use cleaning needle. Turn back on - same message when try to use rinse cycle. Lifted water tank and set back so many times I lost track. Same message. Turned off, let machine sit, with full water tank, 2 hours. Turned back on, tried to rinse - No Water. On it's way back to Amazon. Update, 05/05/13 - Tried 100 more off and on with water tank - still No water! Turned back on and pressed "Caffe Americano" - started pouring water! Turned off and back on. Then selected "Rinse". Performed as advertised. Continued 5 more times, as per instructions. Will update after I make coffee. Update, 05/06/13 - Filled tank, turned on and started making coffee. The only time I had a "No water" problem was when I in fact did run out of water. Just make sure that you monitor the amount of water in the tank before you make a cup. I have a 1 liter bottle that I keep next to the machine that I refill with filtered water. I have since customized three coffees and lattes. Be careful when you use "A little more?". If you get too close to the rim of your coffee cup and save the setting, the next time you use the customized setting it will add too much water. Just cut off the water just a tad before where you want. Only gave three stars because of all the trouble I had with the air blockage in the water lines out of the box. They should research and redesign.

The Pros, 1. Dolce Gusto uses a 2 capsule process to make cappuccino (one for milk, another for the coffee) which is the only capsule machine I found that would do it (without adding a milk tank). 2., the results are quite good - equal to what I would pay for at a StarBucks or other store 3., it did not take long to tweak the timing and have the machine memorize my preferred settings., 4 it's quick, even using the two pod coffees or hot chocolate (the menu screen on the Creativa lets you memorize settings). The Cons, 1., I think the water tank could have been a little larger, 2., drinks are not quite as hot as I would prefer., 3., I need my 2X power reading glasses to read the menu. 4., the adjustable height cup platform is tweaky. Pricing on this model varies wildly, up to $60-$70 difference online, I never found this model in a retail store. I watched Amazon for a couple of months before finally buying when it went on sale. If you want one, be patient and watch for the best price. Some Dolce Gusto capsules are available in stores but best selection of flavors is on Amazon so I just order them (cappuccino is hard to find in stores). Some Background - I made the mistake of figuring out how much money I was spending on coffee at various venues and was a bit taken back (do the same and you may be horrified). Then, while traveling, a client had an office grade capsule type coffee maker and I was (for the first time ever) really impressed with the quality. One striking feature was a 2-capsule cappuccino it made (1 for the milk, 2nd for the coffee) that was surprisingly good. Cappuccino is my favorite by far so I began searching for a home coffee machine that used a similar process. The Dolce Gusto is the only one I found that did it. I was a bit hesitant to spend the money on it (and of course, being a gadget junkie had to have the most expensive one with the menu screen, etc). I drink coffee in single servings and don't want to make a pot full of it so the capsule approach made sense for me. My first few cups were a little disappointing but using the "a little more" options found a good setting for the milk and coffee capsules and the machine memorized them. I found 8 oz to-go cups complete with lids and built in heat barrier so now I can make my cappuccino right before leaving for work (faster than making a stop and cheaper by far). Mind you it is not as good as a hand made cappuccino by someone who knows what they are doing (I've been to Italy, Malta, and South America so know what a good one tastes like) but I would compare favorably the drive thru coffee shops I was using before. Use notes - it may take a moment to figure out the hyroglifical instructions (which make you think the coffee capsule goes in before the milk which is not the case); be careful with the adjustable cup platform which slips out of place and spills if you don't have it secure (I just leave mine fully lowered); upon first use the out-of-water indicator came on even though the tank was full - I think it took a few tries to get the pump primed - it has not happened again; register your Dolce Gusto online so you can get a free box of capsules!

I've had a Kuerig for many many years. Never even thought of switching or adding another coffee maker to my household. Last Christmas, my parents bought my sister and me, a Gusto, little basic thing and I questioned why when I had a perfectly good coffee maker but it sure didn't make Lattes...well I soo loved it however, regulating the coffee was something you had to get the nack of, no special features, dialing bar or anything, I wasn't quite into it as much as the Vue, BUT while in Florida in October, my father made me coffee from his Gusto that had a bar regulator on it that measured the coffee and it was perfect everytime....I set out looking for the same one, but came across a terrific value here on Amazon for the Gusto Creativa Plus...no way could I pass it up. I am such a coffee-holic, that it thrills me to the ease of my selections on the monitor, I can set each flavor to specific tastes and it comes out the way I want it every time. The coffee and the machine are simply amazing. I will say, I did have a hiccup in priming my machine and took me well over 45 minutes in the middle of the night to get it to process and rinse through that made me very flustered. However, since the inital start up, it's been go for launch ever since. I'm one satisfied customer and now my father is invious of my newer improved upgrade from the one he bought me a year ago. TY TY It's an amazing machine.

I bought this item as a 'Santa' present for myself and my husband for Christmas 2011, and we've used it almost every day since then! I love coffee drinks like Lattes and Macchiatos from a big brand name coffee shop, and the ones I can now make at home save me time and money, and the flavor is just as good, sometimes better! I especially like the vanilla latte and the caramel latte flavors, and my husband is a big fan of the american house blend coffee. My parents have a Tassimo at their house, and I have a Keurig at my work, and I find that I like the taste of the coffee drinks (lattes/macchiatos) from the Dolce Gusto much more. The Creativa is a very smart machine, offering to save our customized versions (my hubby likes extra coffee, sometimes I like extra milk in my coffee drinks), brews very quickly, and isn't nearly as noisy as the 1st generation Tassimo my parents have at their house! Love love love love love this machine!!!