First-timer machine advice?

[wowoah]

Hi, I'm getting my first espresso machine for Christmas from my girlfriend who accidentally won two different ones off eBay, so she's given me my choice of which one I'd rather keep. Like I said, I'm a first-time owner, so I really don't know that much and any assistance would help a lot. My choices are between the well known and much praised Starbucks Barista and a the L'Elit PL046, which you all probably know is a much less well-known Italian brand that, try as I may, I can't find any reviews or very little information on. I'm skeptical to keep a machine from a brand that I can't find much information on, yet the idea of a quaint Italian machine vs. the big nasty Starbucks is always more appealing. Do you have any recommendations? Does anyone have any experiences with L'Elit machines?

Thanks so much for all your help in advance.

 

[voxmorgan]

Not much info on the pl046, so I would tend to steer clear of it That beeing said you can find plenty of information/reviews on the Starbucks Barista by doing a search on the http://www.coffeegeeks.com web site. Also if you look at http://www.lelit.com/pl046.htm you will notice under Technical Data: 1. Working Voltage: 220/240 50Hz This means you would have to live inEupore to use it. Your standard house hold plug is 110/120 60Hz. I also noticed that http://www.euro-selectproducts.com/prod ... /PL046.htm mentions that is is 110 60Hz.

You may want to look into this and verify which one it is. My bet is that if she is buying it from someone in the states it would be ok, but keep in mind it may be someone that bought it overseas and can no longer use it so there getting ride of it.