Ordered on a Thursday night, arrived at 7am on Saturday morning - great service from Amazon (as usual). Unpacked and set up in no time. I was prepared for a long drawn out set up after reading some of the reviews on here but I had my first coffee within half an hour (after deliberating about where it should go in the kitchen). It is so simple to use, so neat, compact, functional and delivers almost perfect results! The milk container sits neatly in the door of my fridge for easy storage and retrieval and I've usually used it up within a couple of days so the milk hasn't gone sour on me yet.
Update One
After two weeks of owning the machine though, I have realised that to get my perfect latte or cappuccino I have to zap it for 20-30 seconds in the microwave after it has been prepared. That is after warming the machine up for 5 minutes not 2 mins, using the cup warming plate on top, the self clean function to warm the milk pipes, running a lungo through first, and heating the cup for a minute or so. Unbelievably, the microwave zap is still required though...!
Update Two
I went to the Nespresso boutique in Manchester yesterday and asked there about the latte/cappuccino not being hot enough. They did make me a drink using the same machine and it was too hot to drink. However, the machine had been on all day and it was made in a lungo sized cup. The girl suggested that it could be because I am making it in my own cappuccino cup which is a larger size (and I've adjusted the milk and coffee volumes accordingly). As there is more milk than hot coffee this could be the reason why it isn't hot enough. However, she has suggested that I talk to Nespresso direct about it.
Update Three
So that is what I was going to do yesterday, but this is the final update! I have today had a cappuccino and a latte that were both too hot to drink. The secret is to leave the machine on for at least 5 minutes but more if possible. Run a lungo into the cup you want to use to warm up the pipes and the cup. Get your milk container out of the fridge and put it on the machine as soon as you can - the closer you let it get to room temperature the better. Run the clean function on the milk container at least twice to get the pipes on the milk container hot (essential if the lid part has been cold in the fridge too). My machine was on for about four hours in total today, most of which it had automatically gone to standby. We had four milk style coffees from it and all of them were too hot to drink and absolutely perfect, foamy and delicious.
You might think that is a lot of hassle for a perfect cup of coffee from such an expensive machine. Not me. I think this machine is a dream and has fantastic functionality and great looks and I have become addicted to my espresso in the morning and cappuccino when I get home from work. I can't imagine life without it!
One final thing for all of us who are concerned about the environment- the capsules are manufactured from aluminium and are recyclable. Just open up the lid with a knife, put the coffee in the bin and then you can put the capsule in the aluminium (can) recycling bin.
If you're thinking of investing in this machine - you won't regret it!