Mr. Coffee 12 Cup Programmable Coffee Maker with Thermal Carafe Option, Chrome

Our old reliable and inexpensive Mr. Coffee maker had served us well for almost 12 years, but finally the plastic started to show it's age and could no longer resist the daily abuse. The result was the carafe handle and the one of the filter pegs recently breaking. The coffee maker still worked great but clearly it was time for a new one...Let me preface this review by saying that I had two very important criteria when I was looking for a new coffeemaker:1. Must have a thermal carafe. (wife wanted it)2. Must use basket filters. (I still have several hundred of them, bought in bulk long ago, so I want to use them!)Price was also a criteria, of course, but I was open to spending over $100 if necessary to get a good one. I have a soft spot for Mr. Coffee based on the long and reliable life of our old one, but I looked at all the brands with models matching the above two criteria.Those two criteria really managed to limit the number of models I had to consider and I didn't see any real outstanding reviews on any of them, even the ones priced over $100. Then I stumbled upon this little gem. The reviews were good, it uses basket filters, and provides the option of buying a thermal carafe. The price is so low that even with the extra bucks to buy the thermal carafe it was still cheaper than pretty much all of the other models I had looked at. Plus it is Mr. Coffee, which has served us so well for so many years. Sold.So, with the story of how I came to purchase it out of the way I can get on to the heart of the review...First off the coffee maker looks great; sleek and compact. It actually takes up less space than the old Mr. Coffee model that it replaced.The instructions are very straightforward and it is very simple to operate. It doesn't have a lot of fancy settings or other complications. It includes a water filter but since we already filter our water I opted not to use it. Before using you are advised to run it through a brew cycle with just water to get rid of any manufacturing residues. You can definitely pick up some chemical smells right out of the box so I opted to run a couple of brew cycles just to be safe. After two cycles it was ready to make coffee.Making coffee is a snap. The filter basket lifts out easily - you just rotate the spray arm out of the way and lift out. This makes it easy to add the ground coffee and to clean up afterwards. After you have the filter basket loaded up with ground coffee you just put it back in and rotate the spray arm back into place. You add the water into the reservoir through the same opening in the top and there is plenty of room to pour. The cup markings are on the right side of the machine and may be a little difficult to see in low light, but I haven't had any trouble. If you measure your water before adding it then it won't matter in any case. Once you have added the water you just press one button to start brewing. If you want to change the brew strength you press one more. The machine will beep when it is done. Easy.The unit automatically senses whether you are using the glass or thermal carafe. The heating element turns on only for the glass carafe since the whole idea of the thermal carafe is to keep the coffee warm without continually heating it. We typically use the glass carafe when we are going to drink up the coffee quickly and the thermal when we have more time and want to drink coffee at our leisure. The thermal carafe easily keeps the coffee warm enough for us for a couple of hours. The instructions advise pre-heating the carafe with hot water to help maintain the temperature but we usually don't bother.This machine brews great tasting coffee quickly and easily. If that is what you want in a coffeemaker then I highly recommend it. If you want lots of fancy settings to fiddle around with then it isn't for you. The clock on the machine is not illuminated so you can't see it at night. If you really want/need an illuminated clock then you will want to find another model.This coffeemaker suits our needs perfectly and the price can't be beat. The optional thermal carafe is great for keeping coffee warm without cooking it - perfect for extended coffee drinking sessions.

I puchased this coffeemaker right after last Christmas to replace my Cuisinart DCC 1200. My Cuisinart, which was less than a year old, would not pour hot water through the lid anymore. After doing my homework on the internet, I noticed that onsumerreports.org rated this coffeemaker as their "Best Buy". Considering the price on amazon.com, for $39.99, which is less than 2.5 times the price of the Cuisinart, I was encouraged that you could get a quality coffemaker product for under $50.00.When I received the coffeemaker, I ran water through the system to clean and check its use. I noticed that this unit pours hot water from a rotating spout arm that moves out of place over the filter basket. I also noticed that when the lid comes down, that the rotating spout is moved back in place, due to a clever design in the lid.The taste and temperture of the coffee was similar to my Cuisinart. What makes a different in taste is using a metal filter basket in place of a paper filter. The metal filter basket allows for very fine grinds to pour thru, which gives the coffee a richer taste. I purchased the brass filter basket separately for $9.99, which does not come with the coffeemaker. I would recommend that Mr. Coffee include the metal filter basket and charge the extra $9.99 in its price.Another "But" is that the carafe spout drips along its body if you are not careful when pouring the coffee into a cup. See new comment below.A great feature of this coffeemaker is that you can add a thermal 8 cup carafe for $16.46. The coffeemaker has a switch which does not require the hot plate to be on when using the thermal carafe. The coffee stays hot for hours in this carafe.Pouring 12 cups of water into the top was easier than my Cuisinart, which only had a small corner opening to pour into.Considering the price, features and design, I would recommend this product to anyone who enjoys a good cup of coffee and wants to save a few bucks.A Year Later: My wife and I still enjoy this unit with its ease of use, easy cleanup, good tasting coffee, and adjustable features. I did learn over time that if you do not want the spout to drip, just press the cover slightly up with your thumb, so that the coffee does not come into contact with the cover.