I've never liked any of those countertop coffeemakers. My old
stovetop percolator is still makes the best coffee and dont require
buying coffee filters and all the costly parts to repair those makers.
AND the expense to replace them every year or two.
My percolator is at least 25 years old and never cost me a cent in
repairs, except a little vinegar to thoroughly clean it once or twice
a year.
Most modern technology is only there to make money, and is not making
life any easier.

----

On Fri, 16 Dec 2005 22:05:29 -0600, "HeyBub"
wrote:

wendolynny wrote:
Model TFX20 This is the worst coffee maker I have ever owned.I will
never buy a mr coffee product again.
It doesn't just drip it leeks all the time when the pot is pulled away
from the coffee maker Its a mess.
It sweats,spits and is a horrible design. Even the buttons are all
wrong. I can't take it back because I threw out my recipt,thats my
fault, but I am not stuck with it. and I won't even give it away its
so crappy. I will be their worst advertisement. There I
vented!!!!!!!!! I even sent them this note

No, you're wrong there. The worst is the new model Black & Decker
SpaceSaver.

We've had one for years and loved it. But it wore out. So we got the new
model (~$65).

It doesn't have a heating element for the pot; instead the pot is heavily
insulated (about six pounds worth!). So insulated, in fact, that to get
coffee to pour from the pot at a rate faster than one cup in ten minutes,
you have to remove a 4" rubber O-ring from the screw-on lid.

The rectangular resevoir into which you put fresh water has its hole in the
center 5.5 inches from the edge. The kitchen sink faucet extends a fullsome
4" from the edge of the sink. This design flaw can be overcome with a short
length of rubber hose (not supplied).

On the earlier models, there existed a pair of LEDs to tell you the status
of the damn thing, especially ON and AUTO. These lights have been replaced
with an LCD display, dark grey on a light grey background. In 6-point type.
Unreadable, except in bright light. Repeatedly mashing the "Auto" button
doesn't help, because it's a toggle: 1 mash for on, 2 for off, 3 for on, 4
for off, etc. If you can't count, or get unsynchronized, you'll awake in the
cold dawn with an empty pot waiting for you to do something.

Black & Decker DOES have a superior warranty procedure, though. We had the
above pot for about two months. Then it's "on" cycle dropped to about two
minutes - long enough to brew 1/2 pot (you can tell because the resevoir
isn't empty). Called customer service, followed their procedures, and got a
replacement unit at no charge. We've had the replacement about two months.
It now fails in the exact same manner.

Not to worry, B&D's superior customer service is on the case, the "We get
that a lot" division! A third pot is on the way to us as we speak. Can't
wait. I intend to sell it on Ebay.

In the meantime, I'm soldiering on with a $9.95 Mr Coffee machine and a $3
timer from Walmart. Frankly, I can't tell the difference in the output.