It's my way to mull over >$1k purchases for a while so for those of you that saw my post over on CoffeeGeek two months ago... yeah it's still me Net Police cut me some slack... I waited 2 months before cross posting to get a different perspective.

So I have the option of buying a lightly used Rocket Cellini (Prem+) for a decent price but for some reason, I keep wandering back to the Vetrano. Chris's is running a special on the older Vetrano but some of the newer features are compelling as well.

My priorities:

• longevity/serviceability
• Largely milk drinks but I enjoy straight shots regularly (well at least I did until my old machine died)
• This will be under a cabinet so plumb-in is nice-to have (but would have to come from side; don't want to drill through granite)
• Since folks will ask, I recently purchased a vario grinder.

Rocket:

+ Price (even if I got it new through SCG, they throw in some extra useful things gratis... bottomless, decent tamper). If I get the used one obviously even cheaper and get's a 6 month warranty from the vendor.
+ size smaller than the other two. Might not get plumbed version since the open in the tank is easily accessible

Vetrano:

Plumb-in is nice
Rotary (plays to longevity)
There's got to be a reason I keep coming back to this

I've considered the Vibiemme but the regulars are just too big and the Junior seems to be a step back in quality and there are no plumb-in options.

Folks have also recommended looking into "autos" (volumetric dosing). Honestly the only one I could find that came close to my criteria was the La Val (Hi Jason!) but adding in the plumb-in kit takes it up to the 2k mark.

I can get the Rocket Cellini (not as nice looking as the Giotto) for $1200, the original Vetrano for $1500 and the new one for $1800. Am I just foolish not to get the used Rocket?

Any anecdotal evidence (or totally subjective opinions) anyone would like to share with me.

cfineman wrote:I waited 2 months before cross posting to get a different perspective.

Thanks for your consideration. Why is cross-posting strongly discouraged? explains the site policy on cross-posting. In this specific case, your questions are basic enough that I doubt you will receive markedly different opinions from CoffeeGeek or Home-Barista.com members, especially given that there's a significant overlap among the active posters.

cfineman wrote:I can get the Rocket Cellini (not as nice looking as the Giotto) for $1200, the original Vetrano for $1500 and the new one for $1800. Am I just foolish not to get the used Rocket?

They're all E61 heat exchangers, so performance in terms of espresso will be essentially identical. Do you care about warranty support (and are willing to pay $300 for it)? Other than that, choosing among these models boils down to personal preference.