astoria vs la san marco?

[BoNa Coffee]

Hi! I've been reading this forum for days now, and have a question that I hope someone can help me with.
I'm opening a cafe in about 6-8 weeks. Espressos, cappucinos, and healthy muffins. I've got a great location, clientel (from an already existing boutique and a hair salon next door). Starbucks and Mocha Blends is around the corner from me, and I'm confident that what we'll have will be comparable.
I have narrowed my pick for an espresso machine to a 3group la san marco (brass and copper with a dome) and an astoria argenta 3group also brass and copper with dome. I want the presence of brass and copper, but want to make sure that the machine I get is reputable for consistant temperature, etc.
There is the factor of support, and that is where the astoria weighs in, with a distributer here in Manila.
I live in the Philippines, and folks here in the industry are the big boys and they don't necessarily want to give advice to a newbie.
Any thoughts would be greatly apreciated!

 

[Alun_evans]

Hey BoNa Cafe! Good luck with the opening of the cafe. Being a dealer for CMA (San Marino/Astoria) in Indonesia, means I do have quite a bit to do with the guys selling Argenta in the Philippines. They are sold through Boyds Coffee there- Roberto and the guys selling and doing the technical work are a pretty solid and experienced crew.

When we started looking for an espresso machine line to work with in Indonesia we did a lot of homework. Indonesian cafe conditions (although improving now) were very, very tough on the machines. Lack of staff discipline, high staff turnover, a lack of understanding of electricity :evil: ...well the list goes on. Anyway we decided on CMA products because they are built like tanks. They are also configured nicely for opperating in a high humidity environment. I am not saying things do not go wrong with the machines, but the likelyhood of a problem is low in my opinion.