I would have given this product five stars if not for the miserable experience of trying to make the first cup of coffee. I bought it as a birthday gift for my wife after trying a Nespresso VirtuoLine machine at my brother's house. That machine was simple to operate and made an excellent cup of coffee very quickly. However, when purchasing one for my wife, I decided to get the newer Evoluo machine, which was supposed to fix one of the drawbacks of the original -- not quite hot enough coffee. So there we are at my wife's birthday party, and I proudly demonstrated to her how easy it was to operate. Just fill the water holder, put a pod in the chamber, close, turn clockwise, and push the button. And nothing happened. The machine made various spinning noises but not a drop of fluid came out. I tried a second pod and the same thing, but now the machine smelled like something was burning. At this point, thoroughly embarrassed and enraged, I seriously felt like throwing the machine on the floor just to get the satisfaction of seeing it in a dozen pieces. Fortunately, my son is more level headed. First he read the entire manual and tried the troubleshooting section. But nothing in there helped. Finally, he called the 800 help line. Turns out, some of the machines get air pockets and will not draw water. The tech guy talked him through the cleaning procedure, where you press the button three times quickly. This purged the air in the system and made the water come out. Then we tried a pod, and success! It worked. Good thing I didn't destroy the coffee maker before calling them. So why am I still upset? Because they knew that this product had a problem but decided, like a lot of businesses, to just ship it out and let the customers deal with it. And, icing on the cake, they didn't put anything in the instructions or the troubleshooting section about this air pocket issue. Nowhere does it tell you to run a cleaning cycle before using it for the first time. It's a simple fix that would go far to improve the customer experience. But they just didn't care.Now that I've gotten this off my chest, let me say that I like the coffee very much, and so does my wife. Although the pods are expensive, my wife and I appreciate a good cup of coffee and feel that the quality justifies the price. So I'm not sorry I bought the machine. And I'm glad I didn't trash it. I should also mention that the nice lady on the help line said she would send me some free coffee pods to replace the ones I wasted trying to get the machine to start.The Machine..... no problems whatsoever. It is fun to use and SUPER CLEAN. Cleaner than my original line. Fast warm up. Impressive sounds.BUT make sure to get EVOLUO! Do your research not all Vertuolines are the same. Get Vertuoline EVOLUO. The water is hotter.The Espresso...I have owned an original line since 2008 and have enjoyed my morning shot of espresso for quite some time. But there have been times when I want a full cup of coffee which led me to buy a vertuoline Evoluo. Some reviews said that the vertuoline Evoluo does not make as good an espresso as the original line. I disagree. I like the Vertuoline espresso better.... to me it seems more flavorful and closer to the Espresso bars of Italy...which I imbibed in frequently on a recent vacation. I'm glad I bought it for that reason alone. I would say that the vertuoline espresso is not quite as intense as original line espresso, but it can stand up by virtue of it's flavor.The Coffee.... well I'm not as pleased with that. I'm a fan of big Italian or French Roast coffee with it's deep flavor and slight sweetness. None of the capsules I was given in the sampler offered that. I'm kind of weird though. Most people I know like coffee that has a lighter roast with fruity notes. If you like a good aromatic/fruit/cereal noted coffee you'll be pleased. If you like a flatter tasting coffee, you'll be pleased. But French Roast? Nope, not yet. I'm holding out hope. That's why I'm docking a star.This is great for a budget instant coffee maker! It has its pros and its cons, but i easily prefer it over keurig.pros:-recyclable pods - no more feeling guilty-quick and easy with foam-havent had prior version that people said would not make coffee hot enough, however this coffee comes out hot. not scalding hot, but you can probably burn your tongue on it. i dont want to try.-attached container for used pods to drop-can do either coffee or espressos - two in one machine. the machine auto detects the pod and type-if you prefer smaller/larger coffees - you can actually program the system yourself on how much water runs through versus the standard factory preset amount.cons:-when using an open mug, the coffee seemed to get cold really fast. not sure if its just faster than im used to or due to the foam.-can only use certain types of mugs, as the coffee drips extremely close to the body of the machine. i have a mug which the base sticks out about 0.5-1 inch further than the lip which the machine could not pour into and ended up spilling behind the mug. i had to hold the mug up close and at an angle.-the foam is particularly thick - i could almost eat it as a snack-the pods will definitely cost you more than k-cups, about $1.10 each on average. but they are recyclable so its worth it to save the environment.-due to the nature of the pods and design of the machine, limited to no 3rd party coffees for the machine. all of them would be nespresso brand.It's an amazing machine. While the Original is better, the VertuoLine is better for some unique features like the thicker -- not traditional or necessarily superior, but thicker -- crema. As it stands, if you want a more luxurious latte that isn't too strong, then get the Vertuoline with the frother. If you want a more traditional latte that is quite strong -- made with stronger beans -- then you should buy the Original, as it is made to brew at the temperature required for those beans. The only real complaint I have is that the espresso selection for the VertuoLine is limited -- for those very reasons (the fewer beans/blends that benefit more from the centrifuge than the higher pressure).