Hi all

I'm looking to upgrade from my Gaggia classic to a DB machine, and had the Alex Duetto on my radar.

However, I soon came across the Mini Vivaldi for almost $400 less than the Duetto ($2800 vs $3200).

I've been reading about it and have concluded that at this price point there is really minimal difference between the quality of espresso between the 2 machines. At the moment it boils down to the 2 issues of

1. Price - it seems like the Vivaldi is a no brainer at being almost 20% cheaper than the duetto....apart from the lack of plumping in (which I don't mind), I can't really see any difference. Is there anything else that the $400 will add (I've looked and no one in any forum has made any comment about why the Vivaldi is cheaper other than the plastic sides)

2. Support - I'm shipping these machines in from Europe as they are not available locally (the cheapest DB is the VBM Domobar super at $3800). If I run into trouble, I know the duetto is fairly easy to fix. How about the mini vivaldi? I can't find many answers online on this.

Thanks for any thoughts!

Sing

OK I did the math properly - the price difference is now down toonly about $300 SGD...making the decision boil down to repairs and support...

If you're not familiar, I'm pretty sure the Vivaldi II is also available through Europe. It's plumb only with a rotary pump and line pressure preinfusion.

Another difference between the Duetto & both Vivladis is the Duetto uses a PID to control temp, while the Vivaldis do not. That affords the Duetto a tighter temperature control, but I doubt there's any discernible difference in the cup. If you need control down to .1 C, then go with the Duetto. EDIT: The use of PID, stainless, and rotary pump probably accounts for the price difference.

In the US both have good track records and are sold by Chris Coffee. However he offers an automatic two year warranty on the Vivaldi, so I presume it's really solid, or he'd be doing a lot of warranty work.