@Abstracted
I drove myself crazy looking at the Lelit Mara X, the Bianca, the Profitec’s Pro’s, ECM’s output and the Rocket Appartmento. I think I’m missing some machines in that list as well. I drove my wife crazy to the point where she told me pick anything…
I even started another Minima thread trying to work out if on balance it was the right machine for me.
What swung it was that it’s punches well above its weight. It’s rock solid for my needs and a whole lot more positives listed by the others here. It has its downsides like the plastic tamper and it’s so so shower head and baskets, but upgrading these are cheap.
I’ve had mine since late last year and would be hard pressed to move to something else. It’s a seriously decent bit of kit that is keenly priced and with regular maintenance will last a very long time.
I’m sure you’ll find what works for your needs.