Review Breville Barista Express BES860XL machine with grinder
Breville Barista Express BES860XL machine with grinder Features
- 15 Bar Italian-designed Thermoblock Pump
- Sealed bean hopper with 8oz capacity
- Integrated conical burr grinder
- Removable 67oz water tank with water filtration system
- Programmable or manual settings
Breville Barista Express BES860XL machine with grinder Overview
With its integrated conical burr grinder and dosing control, The Barista Express machine delivers the optimum path from espresso bean to thick crema in less than two minutes. Non-pressurized cafe style single-wall filters allow for experimentation of grind size, grind amoung and tamping pressure to explore the art of espresso. Pressurized dual-walled filters help beginners by delivering smooth crema every time. The integrated tamper with magnetized lock in storage allows you to tamp to your preference while attached to the machine or the counter
The most helpful favorable review by Wolfenhawke
Exceptional! 
I spent my Christmas 2009 reviewing expresso machines. I had just returned from a trip to Europe and finally was going to fold and get an expresso machine. I missed the expresso from Italy and France. 1oz of crema delight.
So, I liked the Breville from all the reviews but was worried about some of the negativity on the "wet puck" I had read. All the reviews mentioned excellent coffee though, so it was on my short list.
Then I saw the Breville BES860XL, also known as the Barista Express Programmable Expresso. From the looks you can tell this unit has exchanged the hot water dispenser for a bean grinder. This unit is a fully automatic expresso machine with the super automatic feature of grinding a pre-measure of beans for your brew. Note, it is not a super automatic machine as you still need to manually mount the portafilter into the group head, and clean the filter afterwards. This is as automatic as you will want to go if you want to really control your coffee. Read Full Review >>
The most helpful critical review by D. Blickstein
They don't last 
I'm going to have to give this a negative review.
We are about to toss out our second machine in 5 years because it stopped working. I really expect this sort of appliance to last quite a bit longer than 2-2.5 years.
I have reliably de-calcified it each month, but the failures seem to have more to do with the controls and what not, and the minimum repair bill seems to be well over half the cost of a new machine once you factor in shipping.
It makes decent espresso (not great) and it foams milk VERY VERY well, but I'm not going to recommend a machine you have to replace every couple of years.
Of course, your miliage may vary.
*** Product Information and Review : Aug 21, 2011