This review will be updated over the months (and hopefully years!) that I will have had and used this coffee machine. If performance goes down as time goes on, I will let you know. If performance stays the same as it did today, my first day of usage, I will make sure to come back to this particular review and update it, to keep prospective buyers aware of the quality, or lack thereof, of this coffee maker.So, today on 11/28/2017, was my first usage of this machine. I followed the instructions for calibrating the machine, and setting the altitude for my region. Some people complain on how long it take to brew a pot of coffee (about 10 minutes), but I am NOT bothered in the slightest by that. and the water gets HOT! So please, be careful with your little ones. I know this is advisable for all coffee machines, but I never had a machine where you can actively see the water boiling at the top of the machine. But I am a complete safety freak when it comes to my little one...but I digress. On to the machine itself....So, I used the pre-infusion feature, and oh my, do I now love pre-infusion! I hear that hot water heating up, and begin drip-drip-drip onto the unsuspecting ground coffee beans... and then just stop....and steep, and soak...boy oh boy... daddy likey. And after my pre-programmed 1.5 minutes of pre-brew action, it starts to actually brew my coffee (calm down, Anthony...its just coffee)! Either way, I like not having a hot-plate for my carafe, and this is the first machine I have used to have a thermal carafe instead of glass one. I will never, ever, ever have my coffee in a carafe for very long, so I may never really be able to give a good review of the thermal capacities of the carafe itself. I know some reviewers complained about it cooling to quickly, but when I read that, I scoffed at their utter lack of coffee-consumption skills, and made a remark about caffeine-lightweights, and let out a resonating, low-pitched laugh. Something like "bwaaa-hahaha". I mean, does it really takes hours for people to drink 8 cups of coffee!Either way, I am so excited about brewing some yummy, caffeinated goodness at least twice a day....maybe thrice. For my coffee regimen, I plan on using only filtered and/or distilled water. No tap water. I may actually invest in a water filter system for my home, but either way, that is the plan. And I will descale this machine every 2 or 3 months. But for today, my first full pot was really, really good. I am SUPER picky when it comes to coffee. I am known in my company as the coffee-bean. I have seriously converted many non-coffee drinkers into enthusiastic coffee drinkers. I wear that badge with honor. And the Behmor did me right today. And if it begins to fail, this review will tell the tale of truth about this machine. Shoot, put a comment on this review, and I will answer all the questions I can about this machine. I am very sure no one else will experiment with this machine like I am going to!1st update, 11/29/2017 (one day later, tee-hee): So, a thermal carafe review. I left the coffee in the carafe for an hour and 30 minutes. 90 minutes people! The coffee was steaming hot! It was 8 cups of coffee. I think the people that complaining about the coolness of the coffee might be leaving like 1 or 2 cups of coffee left in the carafe for an hour or 2 at a time. But, for the the entire 8 cups, it was perfect! Another thing I noticed, is how smooth the coffee tastes. I taste no bitterness at all. I am not used to this. You don't realize it until you actually experience it, but a lot of us are used to drinking bitter coffee. And we are accustomed in having to tame that bitterness with creamer and sugar. It's so smooth that I'm tempted to brew another pot and try it with no creamer and sugar, because it may not need it anymore. Very interesting.2nd Update, 01/09/2018: Love it more as I begin to experiment. I have the temperature I like, the pre-infusion I like, and amount of grounds I like, the coffee I like. And I NAILED my perfect cup. This machine has really started me on a journey of learning what coffee is supposed to be. I know people may think I am blowing smoke here, but I am truly enthusiastic about coffee more than ever before. It's like a guitarist that has had mediocre instruments, and then buys a Jimmie Vaughan Stratocastor, with upgraded pickups (I have one..tee-hee). The right instrument can really make all the difference in the world. Likewise, it is the same with getting the right machine. With this machine, I could learn what a really outstanding cup of coffee could be. This is what I learned these last few months:1) Temperature matters. I went from the hottest it can get to lower, and I am telling you, I can taste the difference. I like 205. It hits the mark for my coffee.2) Thermal Carafes really do make a difference! I would have never known. I now understand how a heated, glass carafe can degrade the fine balance between good and bad coffee rather quickly. I have the coffee in the thermal carafe for an hour, and partake of it's caffeinated goodness, and it just tastes so much better than my former coffee machine. I can never go back to glass carafes after this.3) The shape of the filter or cone makes a difference too! Who woulda thunk it?! A flatter filter versus the conical filter does change the characteristics of the coffee. The flat filters make a smoother cup. The conical one makes a more bold or even bitter cup. I never knew. I actually would love to have an option of going back and forth from 2 types of filters. Another coffee enthusiast on Amazon actually had stop-piece made that would sit on the flat coffee filter, and divert water to the edge of the filter, to force the drip-brew to mimic the characteristics of a cone filter. I would like to experiment with that one day.4) Pre-infusion can make a big difference. Wow, a new one for me. I actually a method of pre-infusion that i do in conjunction with the Behmor's already included pre-infusion step. I actually take about half a cup of hot water, take out the filter holder, filter, and coffee grounds, and poor the water into the coffee-grounds as I am holding it. Once the water in the Behmor is going to start brewing, I place the coffee filter, and filter holder back into it's place, and then the brewing starts. BE CAREFUL AND USE THIS METHOD AT YOUR OWN RISK!5) The drip surface area makes a difference. A lot of coffee makers drip the water onto the grounds in a very narrow stream, so all the coffee does not get equally wet, and you get grounds that are not fully brewed. Terrible, terrible. The Behmor drips coffee very evenly and gets ALL he grounds equally soaked. Big Deal people.ok...it's 3:30 am, and I need to finish my resume for another job. Wish me luck!02/28/2018...I found a flaw. It's not a deal breaker, but I can see how it may be a problem in the future. I included 3 extra pictures in my review to show what I am n taking about. The display gets moisture inside the plastic window where the time and settings read. Is this a problem? I am not sure. But my common sense is tingling like a Peter Parker, and my guesstimation is that moisture-buildup in any area where electronic components are is not a good thing in the long run. In my reasoning, there may be moisture in areas we can not see, and that may be why some people are complaining of their Behmor going on the fritz after a couple of years. And just so you know, the condensation you see in my pictures are INSIDE the display, not outside. So, I am reaching out to Behmor, and asking them what they think about this. But also, you guys that know a thing or two about coffee machines, what say ye? Is this a valid concern of mine, or is my conundrum but the ramblings of an overly critical coffee connoisseur, and should be laid to rest as such? What say ye?!09/28/2018Constant usage from this machine! I make AT LEAST 16 cups a day, and sometimes 24 cups. No problems so far. Almost a year since I bought it. I noticed that Amazon only has one more, as of today's date, for sale. And it is selling for $350?! Crazy. It has not disappointed, other than the condensation on the little display. Coffee is GREAT, GREAT, GREAT! If it makes it 2 years, on how heavy I use it, I will be impressed.My advice to Behmor: Don't reinvent the wheel with future designs. The Wifi version, that one is hit or miss. The Plus (non-wifi) has a GREAT design and aesthetic. This is your niche. So, fix the small issues people have had:- like maybe make it 10 cups instead of 8- make a glass carafe with heated plate (i prefer the non-heated version, but I am just giving ideas)- Figure out a way to divert the steam from any electronics,- Make the steeping feature actually hold the water in the coffee grinds before releasing the liquid. So it would be a true steeping experience. I would suggest a button that you can push to keep it from releasing the liquid. It would not be automatic, because you are ASKING for trouble if it was automatic, and it malfunctioned.- Serious consideration would be to have different shaped containers for the coffee grinds. The shape of the cone and filter makes a difference in flavor. If you want a really bold taste, make the filter and container conical, like the Ninja. If you want smoother, use the flat filter. Just something I have noticed, but very few people have talked about.Either way, see you guys in a few months when I am at the 1 year mark. COFFEE!!!02/26/2019:Still going STRONG! And the coffee is SO YUMMY GOOD! I do not know why Behmor doesn't make this machine anymore. It is almost pointless to continue to review this machine, but I will. If anything, I want to see how long this baby lasts. Either way, I make about 16 cups a day, sometimes 24. Every day. Never do I skip a day. It simply has not failed. IT BLOWS AWAY MY OLD NINJA! We will see if it makes it to 2 years. Either way, as of today, their are only 3 of this model that you can buy online. One is a severely used one for $55, one for $117, and one for $198. Man, Behmor. You should have done small upgrades to the unit, and continued to make them, because this is one great machine, IMHO.Edit: 09/22/19Almost 2 years. Not one hiccup. Carry on!Edit: 12/22/19Over 2 years! Delicious!Edit: 07/12/2023Hi there! You still here? Well, I am too! I stopped using this machine for a couple of years during the pandemic, because the local grocery store would run out of distilled water. I just started using this machine again.....SO DELISH!!!!