Philips Saeco RoyalSuper-automatic espresso machine

I totally love this coffee machine. It has a big water tank, and coffee hop. Everything is easy to clean, and requires minimal maintenance. Once a week I clean the brew group, and every 6 months I descale. I do find though if I don't keep it clean that the cuppachino attachment doesn't froth as well as it should. I see this as a good thing so I know I have to get cleaning (and by cleaning I mean a 30 second wash of the attachment#! I also found cheap low fat milk does not work in it - I use a good quality reduced fat #pauls smarter white) and that froths the best. I don't use the milk canister that was provided with my machine as I find it cumbersome and too small to hold enough milk for making coffee for a group of people.

Once set up this unit has delivered excellent quality coffee for us whether we use the one touch settings or manually create a special Coffee.

I Roast my own coffee so how it is made is improtant to me. We have owned 3 Saeco makers and this is by far the best. Our first Royal circa 2000 was given to a friend and has brewed 22,000 cups and is still running. Great coffee

We had a Royal Professional for over ten years and it was well worth the cost. Finding a machine that had the same or similar capabilities was a challenge. So far, the new model has met and exceeded our expectations. The test will be whether it will last as long with all the electronics.

Clean design. Excellent simple controls. Very customizeable. Ability to use ground coffee as well as the beans in the machine allows using everyone's favorite. The latte and cappucino are so fast and simple. Power management saves emnergy and keeps you from fkorgetting to shut down. Warmup is quick.

Inconsistencies continue after owning this machine for 2 years with the milk frothing and varying temperature of milk. Sometimes I'll get a hot cappucino but most times I do not. I've followed all the advice laid out in the manual but to no avail. I clean it before and after use and do the thorough clean on a regular basis. I've tried different milks and it hasn't made a difference. Disappointed. Frustrated. I want a hot coffee every time! The rest of the machine is good but this is the biggest let down having milk temp variances because I don't drink black coffee.

Have had the Royal Professional model for over 20 years and it made a great espresso. Am a little bit disappointed with my new machine as it needs to be restarted often. Secondly, we also have the Vienna Plus model which actually makes a better coffee than the Royal. ~$350 vs ~$1200! Saeco machines have changed in the years. Seems to be less dependable. When did Philips buy Saeco? Had always been a loyal Saeco customer but will try other makes in the future.

We have had quite a few Saeco's over the years and this by far is not the best model. Our last one had to boilers so we could make coffee and steam at the same time, this one doesn't have that facility. To make it worse, we have to hunt through the menu to turn the unlock the steam functionality, to get the steam to come out also requires a hunt through the menus and to make it worse the steam nozzle is ridiculously short. The steam function shouldn't have been on the machine to start with. Now, it wants to descale every week and there is no way of saying no or cancelling it once it's started. Very disappointed, if I knew what I know now when I bought it I would have gone for the model above or below.