Couldn't resist any longer...went and bought the Incanto Sirius. For other people like me (coffee lover but migrating from a regular coffee machine that can also make espresso), I'd like to share my first impressions.
I have these settings:
12 gram dose
high temp
SBS set to about 1:30pm
default volume on the small cup setting
second to finest grind
Illy Espresso beans
Taste
Now, having been using a $140 Krups I have to say that the espresso from the Incanto Sirius tastes absolutely lovely. The crema on a single shot was excellent (I think...looked good to me anyway), and ok when doing 2 shots at the same time (not quite as thick as with the single shot but still ok).
Steamer
There has been a lot of talk in threads about the steamer wand not being very good and not moving very far. Well, I think they must have redesigned it since those comments because it seems to angle out quite nicely. The foam is, well, foamy. Not tight foam but almost as good as one might hope for...its as good as you get in your local Starbucks in my opinion. I tried covering up the tiny hole that I'm assuming lets the air in and that seem to help a bit.
LCD/Menu
The menu system is excellent...really good. Like me, you may be thinking that the LCD "touch sensitive" panel is just a gimick and just something else to break. Well, maybe, but I gotta tell you that it is so easy to use and gives good feedback to the user during menu selections and brewing (not to mention all the sensors telling you the door is open and so on).
Temperature of drinks
Set the temperature setting to hot, and pre-warm the cup you're going to use (although you won't be doing that with the warming plate..see below) and you're going to get a cup of coffee that to most average people is hot enough...again, in my opinion.
Leak filling trip tray Issue
As far as I can see so far, it's not an issue. If you put something under the steamer when you vent it to get the steam going I think it'll be fine.
Small issues
Yeah, I suppose the resevoir could be a bit bigger. By the time one has rinsed, vented enough water to allow the steam to come through and rinsed again at the end you get through a fair amount of water each time you use the machine.
It is really weird that the LCD panel backlight doesn't go off in standby.
Talking of standby, I wonder what the power draw is when in this state...anyone know? I think I'm going ask Saeco that question.
The cup warmer takes a while to warm up and you have to turn it on through the menu. I won't use it for warming one cup to use for my own cup of joe, but if you were having a dinner party or something like that where you know in advance you're going to use the cups then yeah, it's kinda nice to have. Not very big but no one should complain about that right???? Why?...because, my freinds, you are buying what has been designed as a compact machine. Having said that, it comfortably will hold at least espresso cups or 4 small coffee cups. If you want a big cup warmer though go buy a hot plate.
Summary
Ok, I've only had this thing for an afternoon, but having spent only 20mins getting things setup I'm now enjoying a really nice cup of coffee (although I have had way too much of it today :shock: . Notwithstanding the price-tag, an average owner is probably going to like this machine. And really that's why I wrote this review. I have read the comments on this forum and while some of them are really helpful (for example the settings to get a strong brew...saved me time) some others are a little on the advanced side for an average person, albeit well meant. I mean, I don't think many people are going to care that the secondary heating block is aluminum (primary block is Steel). And the time in seconds that it takes for a shot to pour is somewhat interesting but irrelevant if the product looks and tastes good. As I said though, all well meant and I'm sure there are some advanced coffee gurus out there that would find that info important.
That's it for the moment. I think I will post more impressions after I've been using the machine for a month or 2. Dropping this kind of money on a coffee machine is a big deal for most folk so I'm sure that others who use this site would appreciate the unsolicited feedback on this or any other super auto machine.