DF83 - first impressions

LMSC They clearly state:

• no tax to UK and other regions
• they have a link to terms and conditions, but there are none visible
• Exceptions / non-returnable items Unfortunately, we cannot accept returns on sale items or gift cards.
• every thing is on sale (see above)
• finally the catch all against each product Kindly note that once you purchase on our website, it is considered sold, there is no return/refund policy. Thank you for your sincerity.

It’s so vague as to give them any excuse….to do pretty much anything. When you are paying the same, or almost the same as buying in your own country (whatever that is), with a warranty and distance selling rules etc.. e.g. they could substitute different burrs and you have no come back.

DavecUK - Thanks Dave! That’s pretty clear now. Understood!

I’m sorry I ever posted anything about this now!! (Only joking). I’ve no interest as I have 2 perfectly good grinders and only room for one at any one time in our kitchen. I just thought I’d pass this on as it could interest someone here, seeing as there is a thread set up discussing it from before.I’m not based in the US or UK either, but probably no harm this conversation happened, actually for people to be aware of such sites/deals!

Agree the site needs to be improved. The “no tax” thing is very misleading. And the constant sale price stickers are tiresome. The no cancellation policy also sucks.

I’ve ordered from them despite all of that for the simple reason that it seems to take Australian retailers 6 to 12 months to offer their new models. And worse still, with e.g. the DF64V no one here in Australia can tell me when it will be available or at what price. It might be 6 months, could be 12. Might be $900, could be$ 1,500. I prefer to order from Australian retailers for various reasons and I do so when possible but there are limits to that.

And of course the other reason to order from overseas is sometimes the price. By way of example, right now, I can have two DF64 grinders landed from the df64coffee website for the price of buying one DF64 locally. Yes, there are potential warranty and support issues. But it’s a massive price difference. (If an imported item costs under AU$1,000 there is no duty payable here in Australia.) Two for the price of one, is hard to ignore.

tompoland here is the response from DF64coffee in response to my email asking about the brand/make of burrs that come standard with the new DF64V.

Hello Tom,

Sure! To clarify,

The burrs are now from our Professional Burr Chinese Manufacturer, they are sharper. The new burr is 100% Stainless steel with DLC coating. Sharper, less prone to rust and more durable.

All our resellers and distributors did their tests in the initial stage and they found the coffee qualiy and grind quality to be superior to the italmill burrs before we launched the new burrs.

Italmill was alloy steel, prone to rust, not as sharp and easier to become blunt. Previously we used to get from them.

Portakeepers comments on the DLC buurs are around the 4min 30sec mark on this video…

The new Australian version of the DF83 also comes standard with these new burrs.

@DavecUK I started a new thread for the DF64V because I felt like I was hijacking this one. But I can’t delete the two posts above with the videos. Feel free to delete them if you want to. Thanks.

tompoland Two for the price of one, is hard to ignore.

This is very true. I mean… You can even buy one and, if one is a dud… You can buy a second one and hopefully it won’t be faulty… And then you have one for spares… A risk worth taking IMO.

tompoland - This is definitely a grinder which is catching my attention. It’s almost as if they heard all the feedback related to the DF64 and applied to this one. The chute is ace, the grinder looks very sleek . Personally, I could do without the variable speed - maybe one day they will have a version for it. But as an end product (very similar to the Lagom externally at least) they hit it, and the price is competitive. I’m keeping an eye on this grinder with interest.

Niche better hurry up with implementing that patent of theirs (for the flat burr grinder).

Cuprajake What sort of age and conditions are the first grinders the df company supplied in now? Or do users upgrade pretty quickly

I have a first edition DF64, which is coming up to 3 years old now. I love it - haven’t had any issues with it, albeit I have chosen to mod the clump crusher, I’ve switched out the burrs for Mazzers, bought a new sticker for the top to make the zero point at zero and fitted a device to act as a flow control disk - all in all I’ve spent about £70 on it. I’ve got a couple of 3D printed mods to hold the cup closer to the chute and keep it in place plus an arrow indicator for the top, but I have no concerns over build quality at all and expect the grinder will last me many years. I paid an additonal £30 or so for an extended 4 year warranty with BB so it’s cost me about £500 in total - same as a Niche would have

LMSC

BB say the burrs are Italian made (presumably Italmill) which is different to the Chinese burrs that @tompoland was informed it came with. Quite intrigued by the Chinese burrs - they sound interesting.

dutchy101 yes they have been Italmill up until now. They are phasing in the DLC burrs with the DF83 (new units coming into Australia this week have them) and in the DF64 series starting with the DF64V.

The new units with DLC burrs are now in stock here in Australia with prices starting at AU 1,599 which is around GBP 925. Its a bit of a shame that the price of the until has gone up by around $400 but that’s offset somewhat by the DLC burrs. Still, it’s a hefty increase that is going to shut some out of an upgrade unfortunately.

That’s a shame, is that with or with out tax, did some one say anything aus under 1000 didn’t get taxed

for the price difference, id pay more just for dealer back up

Just in from DF headquarters is this response to my question as to whether the DF83 will start shipping with the DLC coated burrs (which they now do in all new Australian models that come in to the country via retailers.

_Hello Tom,

We hope you find the burrs to be as good as SSP too! Our manufacturer of burrs and our team tested and based on their results we say it is on par. We leave it to our resellers who are the professionals in this field too to leave their remarks.

Every grinder will have their own different set of burrs.

DLC can be produced but at an extra cost for DF83, 100USD for 83MM burrs. We found most resellers do not want to raise the cost even further, hence we offer the standard burrs only._