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| Brand: Cuisinart
List Price: $150.00
Buy Used: $19.98
You Save: $130.02 (87%)
Rating:  184 reviews
Color: Black
Shipping Weight (lbs): 10
Dimensions (in): 18.7 x 12.9 x 10.6
MPN: DGB500B
Model: DGB-500BK
UPC: 086279001009
EAN: 0086279001009
ASIN: B00006F2MH
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 10
 Hard to clean, weak coffee July 7, 2008
Pablo Halpern (New Hampshire USA)
The idea of freshly-ground coffee may seem appealing, but this unit does not deliver well. To begin with, the grinding unit is the cheap, rotary-blade type and it produces too course a grind for drip coffee. The result is under-extracted coffee that's too weak. The unit is so poorly designed that the steam from brewing goes straight into the grinding section, leaving a layer of sludge all over it and requiring a thorough cleaning after every use. In fact, at first I thought that the unit deliberately ran water through the grinder! I doubt a dishwasher would be able to clean all of the nooks and crannies in the grinder unit. The whole thing is a pain to clean, with at least six separate parts to wash. Every coffee maker has some non-removable parts that need occasional cleaning, but this one has many more than the typical number of recesses and hidden surfaces that evade a casual wipe. If you insist on a coffee maker with built-in grinder, then buy something else. The only other such coffee maker that I have direct experience with is with the Capresso system, which is an excellent unit, though more expensive.
They just don't last very long... June 8, 2008
nobby1701 (Saddle River, New Jersey USA)
It makes excellent coffee if you use Eight O'clock Columbian roast coffee and brew a full pot every time. BUT...it's he!! to clean, and, if you wash it in the dishwasher, the plastic dries out and cracks. Even if you DON'T wash it in the dishwasher, the plastic breaks--little pieces. SO, too bad it's not made better. It's LOUD, but if you set it to brew coffee in the morning, it's kind of like an alarm clock!
 Customer Service Lies! April 29, 2008
rsb (Vienna, WV)
I purchased my first 500 in complete faith of the Cuisinart brand. I have three other kitchen products by that company and they work great. I should have known there was a reason why there are more than 50 negative reviews of this coffee maker.
It is very poorly designed. I have had two go bad in less than three years - the length of the warranty. I will admit that Cuisinart has replaced the machine twice, but the last time was a real hassle.
It is obvious that they know they have a disfunctional product. The lady who answered at customer service asked numerous questions about how I was using the machine, in an overt attempt to place the blame for their poor product on my use habits. When that failed, she tried to tell me the reason why my machine was no longer completing a grind and brew cycle, while spewing most of the water out on the countertop and steaming up the front of the machine, was because the "cleaning cycle" was not being reset by me.
According to her, the coffee maker has a sensor in it that "knows" when I have decided to run a vinegar-water mixture through for decalcification and it is waiting for me to unplug the machine so it can "reset" its cycles. Give me a break. They have obviously given the cs folks a page of BS to read to those who call complaining about this particular device.
Don't bother spending your money on this badly designed hunk of junk. I will use the new one they sent me until it fails - I estimate 4 to 6 months, based on past experience - and then I'll trash it for a better machine.
Better Coffee - Replace Every 3 Years April 14, 2008
Homburg Pokes (Colorado, USA)
I received this product as a gift for Christmas in 2003. I replaced the first unit in April of 2005. The grinder became difficult to remove and the coffee pot stopped percolating water. Cuisinart replaced the first unit, but I paid for shipping. In March of 2008 my second unit failed. There is a small leak in the plastic seam near the front of the pot. I have already purchased another coffee pot.
Grinding your beans before brewing will likely improve the taste of your coffee. I have even purchased this pot, or the stainless version, for friends and relatives as gifts. However, I would never purchase this product again.
If you have convinced yourself to spend this amount of money on a coffee pot, buy a conical burr grinder instead. The benefits of a conical burr grinder far out weigh the benefits of a blade grinder. The conical burr grinders cost a little more than this pot, but they are well worth it. After the burr grinder, get a cheaper pot or French press.
This pot is nice for getting a consistent flavor if you are making a full pot. Cleaning the pot EVERY TIME YOU USE IT is a nightmare. The grind is ok, but the steam from the pot goes into the bean reservoir and causes them to be wet and sticky making cleaning difficult. I got sick of cleaning the container every day and that is how I really discovered the benefits of a conical burr grinder, using this pot just to percolate water. After 2 failures, I found a cheaper pot.
Terribly Weak Coffee March 21, 2008
Michael Harren (Jersey City, NJ)
I rarely take the time to write a bad review about a product, but this thing is just terrible.
First, I should note that I am a fan of super strong coffee, but I am also an extremely "make due" type of person too. I have not found a way to make coffee in this thing that I find acceptable.
If I use the darkest roast of beans from Starbucks with a third the amount of water the manual of this thing suggests, I will get coffee that I find passable. What an expensive way to make coffee!
I feel like it is a waste of money to use this thing, and I can't for the life of me figure out why it makes such weak coffee, but it sucks and I give up. I have started using my roommates french press to make coffee, since I threw away my old coffee maker (it cost about twenty bucks and lasted for several years).
I could live with the fact that it is terribly loud and that it is a pain to clean, but to go through all that and have sub-par coffee? No, thanks.
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