The rare dual boiler under two grand that doesn't ask you to choose between workflow and counter space, with programmable preinfusion and a genuinely tunable PID that enthusiasts actually use. The stock steam knob is laughably cheap (plan to replace it), the 15-20 minute warm-up tests your patience, and the looks won't win design awards, but once stable it pulls shots and steams milk simultaneously without complaint or compromise. Buy it if you want real temperature control and dual-boiler capability in a compact footprint; walk if you need E61 aesthetics or can't wait a quarter-hour for your first shot.
This is the espresso machine equivalent of a cast-iron skillet: brutally simple, built to outlast you, and unforgiving if you don't learn the craft. Without a factory PID, you're temperature surfing every shot, timing the pull after the heating light cycles, which means your first month will produce more drain pours than Instagram pulls. The single boiler also forces a wait between espresso and steaming milk. But the commercial 58mm portafilter and brass guts routinely hit 20-year lifespans with only routine maintenance, and the modding ecosystem turns it into a flow-profiling beast for a fraction of what dual-boiler machines cost. Buy this if you want a repairable workhorse you'll tinker with and keep forever; walk if you need consistent shots without the learning curve or can't commit to vigilant descaling in hard water areas.