Braun AromaDeluxe KF 550 10-Cup Coffee Maker

Pros: Auto shut- off; Pause feature; Permanent filter is handy; filtered water
Cons: Permanent filter can cause problems; No programming feature

Coffee makers are primarily of the drip variety and they can be found in most every household. I didn’t care much for the taste of coffee in the past but my opinion has improved drastically in the past ten years or so thanks to the wide variety of ...

Pros: easy to use filter systems for water and coffee.
Cons: pot still drips...

We purchased the Braun AromaDeluxe KF 550 last holiday season and have loved it since. There are a lot of standard coffee maker features on this but also a few extras we find very convenient. This coffee maker does offer the larger 10 cup water basin ...

Pros: Excellent coffee. Very user-friendly design. Sleek.
Cons: Bit pricey for a non-programmable model.

This model (KF550) is referred to here as the "AromaDeluxe Time Control", however, that is actually the name for its more expensive counterpart (KF580) which includes a programmable digital clock. The picture shown is accurate, however. Clock aside, ...

Pros: Piping hot coffee that tastes great.
Cons: None that I can see.

After buying a number of different filter machines that brewed luke warm coffee that mostly tasted like recycled dishwater, at last I have discovered a machine that makes piping hot coffee that tastes great even after it has stood for an hour. Look no further you wont be disappointed.

Pros: Reasonably designed exterior and settings
Cons: Couldn't get coffee strong enough

After much handwringing and reviews from Consumer Reports in hand I hit the stores and slowly ruled out one coffeemaker after another. I was looking for a machine with a small footprint, easy access for pouring and an attractive design.
Price, within reason (under $75) was also a consideration but figuring that by averaging how many cups I should get out of a good machine I justified spending more if necessary.

I hit on this machine as it seemed to fit most of criteria, and although I basically got what I needed I failed to remember that since I'm the only coffee drinker in the house I would mostly be making half-pots.

This machine doesn't have a 1-4 cup setting (which translates to about 2 cups in the real world).
The result was that I almost couldn't add enough coffee to the basket to get a strong cup. The water flows quickly and mostly thru the center of the filter, thus ignoring a lot of the ground I'd added.

Disappointed...had to return it...still searching.

Pros: sturdy hinge on lid mechanism
Cons: none so far

Originally purchased a coffee maker from a different manufacturer and returned it two days later --- the hinge on the lid was too flimsy. I have owned several coffee makers over the years, and have found that this is the weakest area.

Love the Braun KF550. It has a very sturdy hinge, a catch to keep the basket closed, a comfortable handle, and makes excellent coffee. It is also very fast.