I'm on the verge of making a major machine upgrade. I've been planning to go for the Vivaldi II Mini, but am a little surprised to see the S1 Dream T at only $200 more through Chris as well as Clive. Will the Dream replace the Vivaldi? Should I expect the Vivaldi II Mini to drop in price as the Dream becomes more available? Also, the touchpad is a significant change and seems remarkable, though a bit funny looking to me. Does it make the Vivaldi II obsolete in any sense? I guess I'm still wanting the Vivaldi (which I'm already stretching the budget for!) but don't want to miss out on something great if the Dream is a game changer in any way.

Thanks for the input,

Thomas

Functional differences aside, keep in mind that the cost of the $195 appliance timer for the Vivaldi eats up all the difference in price. The Dream machines have a built-in timer.

I was told by several vendors the Dream T was not replacing the VII Mini, not sure why that is. Dream T has a built in timer which is an extra option via a $195 visible cord on the mini. The Dream T is PID controlled and i believe the Mini is not. The Mini steam lever is full on or off-no inbetween. Espresso and steaming performance i am told are equal.

WS

IIRC

PID controller:
Vivaldi II: Centigrade adjustment (1 degree)
Dream S1/T: Fahrenheit adjustment (1 degree)

When the time comes the Dream S1 is at the top of my list in this price range. Not sure why someone would opt for the Vivaldi with the intro of the Dream machines.

If I were looking at both, I'd probably get the Dream even though I think the S1 looks better. As others have said, the timer is nice to have although I've had less problems with my machines since I started leaving them on 24/7.

I have also heard that the Dream is not replacing the Vivaldi for the time being. One of the main reasons is that the Dream has not been NSF approved yet for commercial use due to the plumbing connection changes and internal changes... it will be NSF approved for commercial use, just not right now. In addition, the Vivaldi may be favored for commercial use over the Dream by some business owners since its a no-nonsense user interface and there is less functions for their employees to play around with...just my two cents.

As far as the price difference, for the home Barista it should be a no-brainer decision. The Dream is loaded with features that the Vivaldi simply does not have. Full PID control, more accurate temperature sensors, a redsigned brew boiler (water enters differently and the temp probe is placed differently), a built in timer, shot counter, shot clock, full digital readout, and a whole on slot of programing features not even available on most machines on the market. For $200 more, the Dream really should be a no-brainer as a price point compared to the Vivaldi.

spressomon wrote:Not sure why someone would opt for the Vivaldi with the intro of the Dream machines.

No geeky touchpad/big LCD. And I'm a geek... but I definitely like the apparent simplicity of the II better than that of the Dream. I haven't done a feature comparison though... I have dual boiler envy but will look hard at the Breville before jumping up another $1,000 in price.

#1 Dream feature: No Comic Sans

Definitely a selling point.

If you can handle the goofy looks of the Dream the extra functionality is easily worth the $200. I'm definitely not feeling any dream-envy though. I love my Mini and after all the (weird) hype that CC put into the Dream I was pretty disappointed by the meager assortment of new features (although I leave my machine on 24/7, so the timer is meaningless to me).

Someone above said the lever on the mini is on/off. That is not the case. At least on my machine you can use it to modulate the pressure. I really prefer a lever to a knob, so much faster to switch off. At work I use an Aurelia II with the same sort of steam control and I'd hate to go back to using a knob. . .

I didn't have many complaints when I owned my S1VII, shes a solid machine.

But if there was one thing I would have wanted it would have been 1 degree adjustments in F, not C. Why? Probably because thats what the rest of machines have and its that little bit more accurate. Does it really matter? Probably only the owners can say for themselves. However, given the choice between F and C increments, Ill take the finer adjustment of F myself.