Narrowing my choices down.

Not many Astra Pro users on the forum. A few more for the Salvatore and quite a few for the Bezzera. Just seeing if anyone had a fresh perspective for someone considering these three "bang for the buck" machines.

I have an opportunity to buy the Pro for around $1,100.

I currently have a very old Delonghi pump machine and I want to upgrade to a good home HX machine. We all drink lattes, but I would drink more espressos with a good machine in the house.

I want:
Reliability. I live in Arkansas, so it's not real convenient to ship to either coast.
Consistent shots with minimal fuss. I don't mind a bit of a learning curve, but I don't want to dedicate my life to trying to appease a finicky machine.
Steaming capability. I want to get good microfoam with good repeatability for entertaining.

Since all three are good machines, high quality, built to last, relatively easy to maintain, and produce historically good espresso, just get the cheapest one and learn to drive it like a Ferrari I think it's better to get a machine and learn on it than to go through the endless comparison debates that most of us go through. Just get it, learn it, and love it. That's my 2 cents.

What grinder? Grinder 1st, machine 2nd

The Astra doesn't have a hot water tap.
Deal breaker?

The BZ07 hot water tap is in finger burner location.
Smaller steam boiler, larger reservoir, cartridge heated group +/- ?

None have a brew pressure gauge.

All have smallish reservoirs for entertaining. Only about 3/4 of the reservoir capacity is available. Depending on shot quantity and frequency, you can go through a fair volume of water cooling an HX

There's never a free lunch

I can't speak from personal experience with the bezzera nor Salvatore, but I owned a pro for a couple years and currently own and use a mega II. the pro is definitely solid, well thought out and well made. Sirai pressurestat, stainless steam wand, stainless boiler, stainless frame and boiler. I found that nothing on the machine was "2nd class". Beyond that, I can't say enough about the customer service with Astra. Richard has definitely worked with me over the phone to solve issues. There is an abundance of steam and the steam tip works really well. I found it to recover really fast between shots as well.

When I first got the machine the pump went out after a couple months and was given a brand new machine as a replacement. That pump died after a month, was given a new pump and that lasted a couple years. There were issues with the fluid-o-tec vibe pumps, but I believe that issue has beens solved. No hot water wand. The group is an e61 clone; it's switch not lever actuated and does not have the access on the nose for the eric's thermometer that Chris sells.

Grinder will probably be a Baratza Vario unless I find a screamin' deal on ebay for some other used machine like a Super Jolly.

The lack of a water tap is a negative but not a deal breaker. Comments about customer service like Joel B's makes the Astra sound nice, but I also hear nice things about Salvatore.

cafeIKE wrote:What grinder? Grinder 1st, machine 2nd

The Astra doesn't have a hot water tap.
Deal breaker?

The BZ07 hot water tap is in finger burner location.
Smaller steam boiler, larger reservoir, cartridge heated group +/- ?

None have a brew pressure gauge.

All have smallish reservoirs for entertaining. Only about 3/4 of the reservoir capacity is available. Depending on shot quantity and frequency, you can go through a fair volume of water cooling an HX

There's never a free lunch

Guys,

Another issue I see that I need to clarify is that I would like to be able to make 3 two-shot 12oz. lattes in a short period of time. This gets the family out the door. Even better, to do 3 three-shot 16oz. lattes.
So steam power and quick rebound is important.

I've added Oscar and the BZ02 to my list of possibilities. Whatever I get, it needs to be able to keep up.

I still think any of them will be fine, but you can get a Bezzera BZ02 Full Automatic from 1st-Line for 949.00 shipping included) That's brand new, with warranty! If you're OK with the machines looks, that's a hard deal to beat. Pair that with their Quamar M80 Espresso Coffee Grinder and you'll have a rockin setup for under 1400 delivered to your door. Let me say that I have never used the Bezzera, but I have a pasquini and it's reported that the guts are almost identical. The steam is strong and is more or less endless in supply. I switched the tip from a four hole to a two hole tip on mine and good micro foam is crazy easy to achieve. The cooling flush is quick. The only "issue" I have with the pasquini is the drip tray is on the small size; however, I still don't empty everyday even though I pull at minimum 4 shots every morning. Plus it's right next to the sink so the "issue" really isn't an issue (Just trying to be fair and critical). The Quamar M80 Espresso Coffee Grinder just got a good reviews as well. Hope that helps and I wish you all the best in your search for the perfect setup.

When I got my Mini Vivaldi, I thought I would use the hot water tap often.. I learned that to do so puts unnecessary pressure on the brew boiler. What I discovered is that popping a cup with water into the microwave solves my problem for Americanos. An even faster solution with any machine that has lots of steam power though is to use the steam to heat the water. I can steam my water up to temp in about 5 seconds. In other words, I don't think you need to worry about the absence of a hot water tap.

Keep in mind, the Salvatore has a 6 year warranty. Nobody does that. I don't know a whole lot about Salvatores but I'll likely post a review in August once I've had some time to pull shots.

I'm in the exact same boat. The more I look the higher I go in price and perks. The Salvatore has a 6 year warranty and some of the internals are warranted for life.