pakrat wrote:I found a place that sells the first version (with the old board) at a discounted price ($390).

The only I thing I'd say is that $390 is only a $40 discount on the price at Chris Coffee, and my experience is that Chris' service is worth the difference.

+1. I'd buy it from either Chris or Orphan Espresso. In either case the service will absolutely make the difference.

Last year, you could call Chris Coffee, and get a discount.

Not sure if you can or not anymore, I heard is was going to stop when the new version came out, but it would not hurt to ask.

Randy

hperry wrote:+1. I'd buy it from either Chris or Orphan Espresso. In either case the service will absolutely make the difference.

Those two are great and I wouldn't hesitate to buy it from them, but Stefano has them, too, and you can't beat his service either so there are at least 3 great options out there.

(I agree that the Vario is probably the best choice under $400 for someone who wants to change coffee a lot or brew methods, but a used Super Jolly is a great choice, too, in that price range if you just want espresso. To me it is a toss up between the two for the best bargain in espresso equipment.)

pakrat wrote:Thanks for the quick feedback. I think that I'm sold on the Vario. I do have one question though; how difficult is it to swap out the beans? Am I better off learning to measure my doses in whole beans and just grinding until the hopper is empty?

I would also recomend the Vario (I have two of them and may be getting a third). One thing I would suggest if you are looking to change beans and/or grind settings frequently is to grind by dose and to run the grinder empty a few seconds at the new grind setting before loading the beans. There is no "gate" on the hopper so changing beans with a full hopper isn't easy. I like to run the grinder empty a few seconds on the new setting when switching to another brew method as well. It seems to helo ensure that the new setting has fully transfered (for lack of a better word). Good luck!

"- Terrific customer support directly from Baratza
- High percentage of satisfaction amongst large variety of owners
- Vario has been "de-bugged" and nearly all current Varios for sale are updated*"


REPLY........As i Know nothing about grinders { i think i can just about work where it goes in and where it comes out in between god knows} and from the Advice offered on these boards i have Also decided to purchase the Vario that will give me a year or more to get used to the Methods, skills and science of grinding and hopefully see and maybe try some of the more exotic models, and make a less under pressure choice
I have read issues that some of these do not quite grind fine enough for espresso but can easily be diy tweaked to do so
How would i know whether the Vario i was buying or intended to buy is one of the updated models is there any way of telling

Regards Londonplug

PS i was so surprised to find out that EVERYBODY grinds their own coffee and the question always asked is not do you grind your own, But what grinder are you using