DE1PRO

Highly recommend the DE1Pro. Slightly similar situation as you but had my first machine for about 8months prior to Decent. Can’t say enough good things about the DE1, great for learning and progressing to complex profiles. The extended warranty for $300 for 2 years and renewable is fantastic. The argument of it might not reliable with that much tech kind of goes away with it. $150 a year for a fully covered machine is not much if your that committed. And if you sell the next person can extend. Meticulous may be a great option if never planning to make milk drinks but for me I want that option.

I ended up going with the decent de1pro mashup. The Meticulous is too new and I wasn't 100% confident in the company. They were years behind delivering on their kickstarter campaign and are selling new units with a 1 month wait over people waiting for years which shows the company isn't financially stable yet along with software glitches and laying off their programmer to switch towards ai programming left me unwilling to gamble 2k. Although the piston pump and how its designed leaves promise for durability and great tasting shots. I'm very happy with the decent and just looking up their recommended profiles on their youtube page then dialing it in has given me better espresso than I could find in a coffee shop.

I usually just read here; not contribute. But I also went the 'buy once, cry once' route, so here's my thoughts. I stretched my budget a lot and bought a Option-O P64 and a Decent DE1 Pro. A Lelit was my second choice. I am extremely happy with both my P64 and my Decent. Counter space was a consideration for me. Whatever you choose, be aware that every setup has a learning curve. Be patient. Your first dozen or so espressos might be mediocre. But after that your worse espresso will be very very good. Good luck. And enjoy

Well said. I moved away from mine as well. The sound and look definitely played a big role, as did the lack of any tactile feel

Decent would be my recommendation. Proven software, established community, extended warranty options, unlimited control. You have the option to steam and don’t need to buy an additional standalone machine for that.

Not having a boiler is precisely the reason I bought one to replace my dual boiler e61.

I paid 0 tariffs on it. It shipped and was in my hands in 2 days.

Just get a Decent DE1. I got one after faffing about using an E61 with flow control, there is no substitute if you want to control every aspect of the shot.

I got mine as a cosmetic defect unit in the end of Sept this year (barely noticeable nick at the back of the machine) otherwise perfect.

Decent DE1

Ill informed. EDIT: What I paid doesn't change the fact that you are clueless. Clueless people are easily triggered when their ignorance is pointed out!

I just got mine a month ago my only regret is I didn’t get it sooner. The 20% off the cosmetic defect models was more lucrative for me than the v1.46 group head change. The new group head will be available to install on the older machines so it’s not something that held me back. After using a E61 dual boiler machine, I have no interest in any boiler based machine now that I have used the Decent. The Meticulous is interesting but it is too new. Also it will take up more space on the counter, at 17 inches tall it will barely fit under most counters, as wide as decent but will need a separate milk steaming device. For me it’s a no go. The Decent is so much more versatile than any other machine on the market. I have been using it regularly to brew filter coffee using the Filter 3.0 basket. With all the profiles I can usually get amazing extractions from any beans. All the data it provides teaches a lot more about espresso and your technique. I used a Bluetooth pressure gauge and flow control on the E61 but the decent is in a different league.