Hi, I bought a delonghi espresso machine and quickly realised it was no good for home espresso. I then upgraded to a sage barista express which I have had for the last 3 years. I'm now in a position to upgrade and need advice with this, I have a budget of around £1000, I want a machine this time not an appliance like the last 2 appliances I have had. I want something that is built to last and parts can be sourced easily. I want something that isn't too complicated to maintain. I am purchasing it with some of the inheritance money from my late mum estate, I want a machine that I will use for many years sit proudly in my kitchen and think of my mum when I use it. The thing is, I'm not experienced like the experts in here and don't want to make a huge mistake. I'm open to suggestions and welcome them . I do have the simonelli Oscar 2 in mind. I don't want a single boiler machine and realise with my budget it won't stretch to a dual boiler so looking at a heat exchange machine. many thanks for reading

I think the LELIT Elizabeth is just over £1000 if you can stretch a little bit. What grinder do you have also, as the Sage BE has the built in grinder, so if you don't have a grinder you will also have to factor in the cost for that.

@"Dumnorix"#p3910 Thanks for the reply, I do have a grinder the niche. So just the espresso machine in after. Will look at the lelit elizabeth.

@"Esmae"#p3911 - indeed. As the previous advice, consider budgeting for the grinder and for some accessories. The other option is the MaraX.

If you have the Niche with your budget you can consider the ACS Minima. Dual boiler, built as a tank and will do what you mention you are after. @"DavecUK"#1 has done an excellent review of the machine and there is quite a bit of feedback on the forums.

I would include water as a crucial element to address.

@"John_Yossarian"#p3940 I will definitely look at this option. I think I am going to forget about the Oscar 2 it's too hard to find one. Very few places stock it. I have found one company stocking it with the over pressure valve already fitted as upgrade the company is called elektros but I have never heard of it and think it in Italy and unsure about purchasing from them. Thanks for suggestions.

@"LMSC"#p3954 I'm quite a novice but have always used volvic water I live in a very hard water area

Am sure the water experts will chip in with figures etc, but in espresso machine terms, I do not think Volvic is particularly suitable. You need something for certain. A lot of us use this https://www.osmiowater.co.uk/water-filters/reverse-osmosis-water-filters/zip-portable-reverse-osmosis-system.html Looks expensive but certainly cheaper than letting your machine scale up then getting a service engineer out!

@"Esmae"#p3998 When some one like @"dfk41"#4 suggests caution re-bottled, I would take a pause. I do not know much about the bottled. I won’t use for environmental reasons. Waitrose lockhills and Volvic seem the best in the bottled department. But, I won’t use bottled. Folks elsewhere recommend it. Scales are likely to form eventually and you are going to have to slightly descale often to prevent this becoming a headache later. Look at [this thread](https://www.home-barista.com/water/scale-after-18-months-using-volvic-t62500.html). We are spending >1K on a machine, which we want to last for a long time. It’s worth spending some tidy sum, if helps extend the life of our machine - ofc with TLC. Edit : @"DavecUK"#1 Hope it is ok to link that thread here.

> @"LMSC"#p4011 Edit : [@DavecUK](https://coffeetime.freeflarum.com/u/DavecUK) Hope it is ok to link that thread here. Of course it's OK to link to it….no problem.

Advice wanted

Waitforme

@Esmae, there is a Lizzie for sale over on that other forum for £950 , just saying’

Esmae

Waitforme

I don’t like the look of the Lelit Elizabeth, cosmetically it’s not the prettiest machine, I know functionally it’s a great choice, but I want both something pretty on my worktop that functionally meets my needs.

Thank you anyway

Esmae

MediumRoastSteam

Thank you that’s really helpful, my mind is made up now. Getting the minimia for sure. Now just to decide where best to purchase from probably Bella barista.

Esmae

Danm

please don’t apologise, glad you asked. Helped me make my mind up.

Cuprajake

minima is sold at blackcat coffee

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