I suppose you get what you pay for, but don't get this if you want an espresso machine that lasts. First the plusses - it actually makes a half decent coffee, whilst it lasts. However, as others have said, after a short while it leaks. It actually blew the frother nozzle off at one stage, and the nozzle is in a poor place as after using it drips over your work top !! We had ours about 2-3 weeks before it started leaking water from pretty much everywhere. Doesn't say much for DeLonghi quality control .... Took it back to Curry's, full refund and we weren't the only people to have had a problem with it they said

I would not bother with this machine. It starts off ok and makes good tasting coffee. But then after a while the problems start. The machine leaks a lot. Both at the coffee area and the milk spout, and its a lot. Makes the job of making a coffee very messy. The machine is also very very loud and shakes a lot. And it also gets very hot. So much so that it is difficult to touch the handle that turns the steam on. If you are thinking of this machine do not bother. I have had this machine for 18 months and i regret buying it. Im currently looking for a replacement. Unfortunately the problems stated happening after the warranty period (however only been for a few months as i was away from the country and it just sat there in the box). A friend of mine spent more and got a machine from another company (the ones that use the pods). And he has not had any issues what so ever. Maybe worth spending the bit extra.

Although this machine makes good coffee it has a few design issues that i feel are an annoyance the steam spout is too short and too low so it is difficult to find a container that will fit under it that is big enough to hold a decent amount of foam. The drip tray does not extend around the side to include the steam spout so it just drips all over your work surface. but this seems to be common across all the makes. the cup warmer stays on even when the machine off switch is off. because the cup heater uses steam it will "boil dry" unless you switch if off at the plug. It has tripped my main fuse on several occasions. It is REALLY noisy which is not good if you are not a morning type person. its good points are- a decent size water container easy to use and it makes great coffee.

I brought this espresso coffee machine from Choicebrand (the reconditioned store) for about £45.00 about 5 months ago now. I used to own a Dualit espresso machine which was £150.00 about 5 years ago which constantly kept going wrong (the frother was the main problem). This machine produces great coffee creme and a really good froth. It may vibrate a little bit but I don't see the problem as it's only doing that for a few seconds. It really was a bargain and better than the Dualit.
Thoroughly recommended.

The DeLonghi EC330S Espresso Machine is incredibly good value. I bought one 2 weeks ago for my parents after reading reviews from other people, and have certainly not been disappointed. I've been using it 4 or 5 times a day for 2 weeks now. It makes perfectly good espresso or cappucino (if your skills are good). It actually beats my brother's $1300 Jura and makes as good a coffee as my other $450 Breville. It also beats similar priced Krups (hehe, pun wasn't intended).

Tips:
ESPRESSO: Don't forget to use the built in tamper to pack the coffee. Use pretty strong pressure - experts recommend 17kgs of weight. I personally like the single serve attachment, and fill it to just under the rim (8 grams).

FROTHING: Also remove the frothing attachment provided and simply use the nozzle inside the attachment. The frothing attachment is for those who can't make good froth manually. But the quality is like chalk and cheese. Persist with making froth manually and you will eventually be making perfect froth.

The important thing here is to leave the tip of the wand just under the milk surface to get a constant whooshing sound. You need to get very very small bubbles, no sizeable bubbles (which means the wand is too high). Again the course I did suggests that this should be for around 3 seconds, but because this machine isn't professional you will need around 10 to 15 seconds of whooshing sound. Once you have the right froth insert the wand deeper to continue warming the milk to 65 degrees C (hand hot).
Note: You must use cold milk with a cold stainless steel jug.

If you're making more than 1 cup, I agree with the instructions to make the espressos first, then the milk last.

I bought this DeLonghi EC330S Espresso Machine as a replacement for the Krups XP4020 which I returned within 2 days as the steam flow died during frothing. The Delonghi is a much better machine for producing cappuccinos (produces good froth) - recommended.