CUISINARTDCC-T20 14-Cup Programmable Coffeemaker Touchscreen, Black

Beautiful, modern machine that brews delicious coffee

I would highly recommend this coffee maker.

When my Hamilton Beach coffee maker decided to stop working after 7 years of daily use, I took a peek at Consumer Reports to see what they recommended - and saw the Cuisinart DCC-T20 among their top-rated. That very day, I ordered one from Amazon, along with a package of Melitta #4 Cone Coffee Filters. I've used the same brand of coffee beans and the same grind (I have a burr grinder) for years so I was able to compare the "quality of the cup" easily. I can without reservation tell you that the Cuisinart DCC-T20 coffee maker, paired with the Melitta #4 filters, makes an outstanding pot of coffee.Controls on this model are pressure-sensitive "buttons" hidden behind a shiny black face-plate. A gentle tap on the always-visible On/Off "button" makes all of the others light up. The options available are self-evident and I found the black face-plate surprisingly resistant to greasy fingerprint smudges. I drink my coffee black and use a dark roasted bean, with my grind set between expresso and drip (medium fine?). I prefer to taste the flavor of the coffee beans - and *not* cream and sugar (bleh), so I always tap the "bold" setting on. I also make 8 cups at a time, so I've never used the 1-4 cups setting. I did have to prepare a pot very early in the morning once, and relied on the timer to fire-up the machine at 4 AM. It worked flawlessly, thank goodness...!The coffee maker comes with about 30 seconds worth of assembly required: a small water filter that looks like a miniature oval Keureg cup must be (unwrapped and) pressed into its holder at the base of a plastic wand. Once this done, the wand itself is inserted into the open corner where water is poured. The base of the wand slips snugly into a hole at the bottom of the water reservoir. You'll have to pass a couple of carafes of plain water through the coffee-making cycle in order to remove any charcoal dust from the filter element. Once you've done this, you're all set.I included a photo - untouched and unabashedly displaying all its early morning glory - of what the cone filter looks like after making my standard 8-cup pot. You can see that the spent coffee grind never approaches the top of the filter, so there's never a chance that you'll find any stray grinds at the bottom of a cup. I can't vouch for the same result if you use other filter size/brands.My only complaint is a minor one: the corner opening where the water is poured into the reservoir is, by design, a bit small when using the carafe itself to fill the reservoir. There is an opaque plastic window that runs up one side of the DCC with a scale that matches up perfectly with the 14-cup scale etched onto the glass of the carafe. So if you use a separate vessel to fill the coffee maker, you can use this and be assured that your water volume is accurate - and doing so would eliminate this complaint. BTW, the footprint of the coffee maker is about 7" X 9" X 14."

I really wanted to love this coffee maker after CR rated it so highly. The controls were really well thought out and easy to use. We've had it approximately 2 1/2 months. As another review mentioned, the carafe is difficult to get in and out of the warming plate since the top of the carafe has too much contact with the grounds/filter holder. The coffee maker itself has had the CLEAN button go on a lot. No other coffee maker I've had has done this. At the end of the process it sputters and generates a huge amount of steam. So much so that I'm afraid it's going to damage the finish on my cabinets. We're going to pitch it even though it was quite expensive as coffee makers go. The controls were really well thought out and easy to use but the cons outweigh the pros.

After years of using a Mr. Coffee I thought I would upgrade when it went. Will say the coffee tastes better with this coffee. Will also say that the permanent filter is useless.. you still need to buy paper filters. And so many times when this machine just makes a mess... the grinds bubble out... you think the coffee pot has stopped dripping, remove the carafe and then end up with coffee on the burner. I will be getting rid of this soon and going back to the cheaper more reliable.