I bought this on Jan. 30, 2010 on the strength of the positive reviews. For the money I paid, I could have bought 2 "Mr. Coffee" coffeemakers!This unit never got the water as hot as I wanted, i.e. hotter than your run-of-the-mill and cheaper appliance. The water temperature never improved despite my diligent adherence to the instructions in the user's manual. I lived with it and would have tolerated it longer but it died on me on its 14th month of minimal usage (I brew coffee at home just once or twice a week, usually weekends).For something that's just 'good enough', $80-some dollars is too much to pay! Hence, the 2 stars.