5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Machine to Feed an Addiction I purchased the Philips 3200 Lattego with an additional filter as part of Amazon Prime Day, so my review is directly tied to that discounted price.I find that this machine is really worth the money. It makes excellent espresso and latte macchiatos. That is a given, but how does it handle milk alternatives. I feel like there isn’t much comment on this, and I think it is worth discussing.Since realizing, after two decades of pain and suffering, that I am lactose intolerant, I switched from milk products to oat milk. I typically purchase Silk brand’s original oat milk, but I also buy their creamy version, and other brands of oat milk. This machine does a good job of heating and frothing the oat milk, however, because it is quite a bit thicker than milk, it uses less oat milk in the automated process. This doesn’t bother me too much, because I typically use the latte macchiato function twice in a row to fill my coffee mug. Yeah, it is a healthy amount of espresso in the drink, but that can be adjusted. It does work with oat milk, and I prefer it that way. I have not tried it with soy milk, almond milk (might be a good choice given how thin it is), cashew milk, or other milk alternatives.I recently also thought I would try lactose-free Horizon organic milk, and it works as a normal milk product would. It froths a lot more than the oat milk does, so be prepared for a lot of foam. It tastes a lot like an espresso drink you would have at any coffee shop, other than Starbucks. Even using Starbucks espresso beans, it comes out slightly less perfect than they can do, but over significant use, it surely pays for itself and it is still darn delicious.One tip to mention is that when using pre-ground beans, make sure to close the lid after you load in one scoop. Don’t overfill it and don’t load it too early. When wanting to use pre-ground coffee beans, make sure to power up the machine and let it do the cleaning cycle first, before loading in the grounds. My machine doesn’t seem to do the pre-ground stuff as well as I’d like, and it has to do with the process. I am not sure why, but it will sometimes take two or three tries to get the machine to make it correctly, but once it does the first time, you can repeat the process in the same power cycle without issue. Load one scoop of grounds, close the lid, choose the drink, let the machine work. When it is done and you can select a new drink, repeat the process of loading the grounds, closing the lid, then choosing the drink.I’m not entirely sure I would buy this machine at full price, but if you see it on sale, it is a great deal. I think the regular price of this one versus a higher end one from Philips is only $100 or so in difference, and the higher end models, 4300, 5400, etc., offer more options. That can be important for some. On sale, with the milk carafe, it is a bargain and worth it for the first super-automatic espresso machine. I think the price to consider picking it up if money is an issue is the $650 or so price point. Amazon Prime Day’s deal was less than. Highly recommended.Made in RomaniaUPDATE: I have been using this espresso maker for some time now, and I still think it is a great buy, especially on sale. Everything has held up great since purchase. I thought it might be good to leave some additional thoughts. First, the issue when using ground coffee seems to be less so. I have only experienced issues with it twice since my last review. Second, the one new negative thing I have found is that it can be a little noisy when in use. That doesn’t stop me from recommending it, but if you need something super quiet, this might not be the one you want. And finally, don’t forget to clean out the cavity where the used grounds fall out of. I never thought to clean it and one day my wife noticed some mold smell coming from that area and I had to stick my hand in and clean it out as best I could. I use it daily and I clean that part about once a month, and that seems to be good for me, but also note that I live in the dryest region in the United States, so we don’t really have humidity to make the problem worse. That’s all. I still highly recommend it, especially when on sale!

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Stay-at-Home Alternative to Coffee Shops My wife and I bought this machine about 2 years ago, and it has held up nicely over time. It’s proven to be a simple, reliable alternative to going out to buy coffees and lattes from coffee shops, which is perfect since we work from home pretty much all the time. We’ve got 3 adults in our house and on average drink 5-6 total cups per day, and we so far haven’t run into any major problems.One issue I had at first was that the coffee wasn’t as strong as I was used to (I tend to like it pretty strong), but it’s still good coffee. You can make drinks stronger by adjusting how fine the grounds are with a little knob in the bean compartment at top, but I didn’t start messing with this until very recently. You can only adjust in small increments while the grinder is active to avoid damaging it.This machine is good for guests who want to make and customize their own individual drinks, though there is a small learning curve for first-time users. Once they know how to use it, they often comment how cool it is, and some have said they’d like to get one too (if it weren’t so expensive).Maintenance is fairly simple: You have to change the water filter every few months, rinse the easily removable “brew group” every week or two, and apply grease to it every couple months. The only problem I had was reinstalling the brew group for the first time (there’s a little yellow switch on the side that needs to be in the right position). There was also one time we didn’t change the water filter while the replacement light was flashing (it gave us plenty of notice; we just procrastinated too much), so we had to buy a special descaling fluid to clean it out before we could use it again.Yes, the machine can get loud, but I haven’t met a coffee grinder or latte maker that was quiet. This machine’s noise level seems pretty standard to me.There are a few little tricks to using and maintaining the machine so that you can get the most out of it, but so do most machines like this. Overall, I’d say it’s very easy to use and makes good drinks. The price is a bit high, and you also have to consider the added costs of buying whole-bean coffee and replacement water filters. But convenience like this often comes at a price, right? I would say it was worth it for us.

5.0 out of 5 stars Gamechanger coffee maker I purchased this Philips 3200 Espresso maker last October after using and loving a similar Philips Espresso maker at an apartment in Rome, Italy the month before. We loved the cappacino we made each morning during our stay in Rome. So I took notes on the brand (Philips) and found this similar unit on Amazon. I’m sure the espresso maker we used in Rome, which was available to use by all rooms on our floor, was a more industrial style, but the workings were identical. After reading all the reviews, I had a few concerns about mold and about noise. But having owned it and used it daily for almost 10 months, I’m writing this review to say I am super happy with it.* First off, after I set it up, there was a small plastic plate that the directions didn’t identify. Also I had questions on how to change some settings. The Philips product support line was awesome. The lady had me do a Zoom type call whereby she could see what I was doing and she got everything straightened out.* Second, it makes a great cup of coffee, cappacino, or latte. This Philips replaced a Ninja single serve pod style coffee maker. We’ve using Keurig pod style machines for well over a decade. I thought they made good coffee, but the coffee from a fresh ground espresso maker is so much better. My wife makes a 2x (double) regular coffee, which is a single push button option. We leave it on the medium aroma (coffee strength) and medium water volume setting, which makes about 4 oz. of coffee at the strength we both like. Using the 2x coffee option, it does exactly that… it goes through the grind and brew cycle 2 times for 8 oz. of great coffee. My preference is 1x coffee, then a Latte Machiato on top. I usually use 2% milk for the machiato and it still makes a great froth, even though whole milk makes a better froth.* Third, yes it makes noise. The automatic coffee grinder sounds like a coffee grinder. If you choose, you can use ground coffee but to me the grinding sound is not a big deal. I haven’t done the math, but I’m sure my coffee cost has gone down significantly since not purchasing K-pods and buying whole bean coffee at Costco or on Amazon.* Finally, the machine has had -0- problems since I got it and it goes through 8 brew cycles every morning. I am very metiulous about daily, weekly, and monthly maintenance. If your main priority is minimal clean-up and maintenance, stick with Keurig pods or a regular drip coffee brewer. This is a very sophisticated machine. I’d say I spend about 4 minutes every day (sometimes I do this in the evening) emptying out the coffee grinds bin, dumping the drip tray, then rinsing them both off, rinsing the LatteGo milk container / frother with dishwash spray, and refilling the water container. Once a week I spend about 10 minutes doing the above as well as removing the brew group assembly and rinsing it under warm tap water. I also wipe up the grinds and moisture that make their way under the brew group with paper towels. I think those that have mold issues are not doing this regularly.Monthly maintenance includes cleaning the brew group with coffee oil remover tablets, bi-monthly is lubricating the brew group with Philips food grade grease. Every few months a light indicates that the AquaClean water filter needs to be replaced. I purchased a non-Philips brand kit off Amazon that includes the filters, grease, and coffee oil tablets.All of these maintenance items I do because I love the coffee. I can’t see myself going back to a Keurig single serve coffee maker.