Braun Aromaster KF 420 Coffee Maker

Pros: Great tasting coffee at a great price
Cons: last one wore out after 3 years of daily use.

We had an earlier version of this coffeemaker and it had done well for several years. However, the part that stores the coffee was wobbly and the “pause and serve” feature did not work. In essence, it dripped if the carafe was removed before the ...

Pros: Inexpensive, uses less grounds, easy to clean, good hot coffee
Cons: Fragile, poorly designed carafe, lacking in features, noisy during brew

Initially, I bought the Braun for the price and aesthetics. It was the cheapest good looking coffeem ...

Pros: Ease of use and cleaning, reliability
Cons: Pause n' Serve feature could be improved

Last year I purchased my second of these simple coffee machines. The first one had lasted about six ...

Pros: cheap, but for 10 bucks more you can get many others
Cons: rocker switch on front too easily flipped, didn't stop dripping when carafe pulled out.

I had this coffee maker for about a year. When the lid to the carafe broke I didn't even think about replacing the carafe because it would cost almost as much as I paid for the entire coffee maker, and I had become very annoyed by this coffee maker. It made okay coffee, but that feature where you were supposed to be able to pull out the pot and pour while it was still brewing never worked - it always dripped when I pulled the carafe out. By far the worst feature of this maker is the fact that the switch is on the front, and therefore we managed to turn it on without even knowing about it. All of a sudden I would smell something, and I would realize that the coffee maker was on again. It never burned the house down or anything, but it is dangerous to have a hot appliance that you think is cold, and besides it really bugged me that I wasted electricity. I could see a potential for disaster, and therefore I replaced the whole coffee maker.

Pros: Parts fit, taste of coffee, design, size
Cons: None I can think of.

I drink a lot of coffee. And being a former truck driver, I like good coffee. I feel like I've tried them all. This Braun coffee maker takes my award for best designed basic coffee maker on the market. At one time I had a Krupps, which was a good coffee maker but the Braun has it beat in many categories, especially the design and longevity of the water heater (my Krupps burnt out). The Mr. Coffee doesn't even come close, especially in the parts fitting together and size departments.

This is the second Braun aromaster I have owned. The first I owned for 2 years and it worked great, but I dropped the Karafe which broke and replaced the coffee maker instead of searching for a new karafe. The Krupps model replaced it, which lasted a year and burnt out. I finally found another Braun aromaster at Linens and things, and bought 2 of them. I currently have one in reserve.

Pros: Inexpensive, brews fast, coffee tasted fine.
Cons: A compulsive swinging basket. Water level indicator is 2 cups over. Replacement carafe is $16.00.

'bought one on sale for $17.00. Once you put it on, brewing starts in just 4 seconds. In the middle of the cycle, the basket became unlatched. I tried to push it back in but it wouldn't latch. Maybe because basket was still warm, so I waited 'til it cooled down. Same thing! Took it back to get an exchange. The replacement's basket swung wide open during the cycle, and hot water just spewed over. It still wouldn't latch. Returned. Unless you can stay and watch while it brews, this item needs to be recalled.

Pros: I can make a hot cup about 5 minutes after reaching my office.
Cons: Basket moves, ruining whatever is on my desk if I don't hold it in place.

The pause and serve function does not pause and serve. The filter basket swings out mid-brew - as soon as the water starts to drip into the carafe! This means hot coffee is dripping all over my desk, ruining papers, etc if I don't hold the filter basket in place!

This may be a random event, specific to the coffeemaker I purchased... or it might be something that occurs with all of them. Nevertheless, I plan to return to sender ASAP. I do not want to swap for a different box with the same model - I am going to a different brand of coffeemaker.