The recent revival of Comandante grinder thread reminded me that I need to replace my aging Porlex for drip grinding.

My priorities are:
1) hopper capacity (32 g light roast / 28 g medium roast)
2) drip grind quality
3) ease of use
4) portability
5) price (up to $200 USD)

I've accumulated the following specs on the Zassenhaus Quito, Lima and Panama grinders:
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Lima
Hopper capacity: ?
Height: 31 cm
Diameter: 7 cm
Burr type/size: ceramic (?) canonical ? mm
Materials: Stainless steel / acrylic
continuous coarse / fine adjustment
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Quito
Hopper capacity: ?
Height: 22 cm
Diameter: 6 cm
Burr type/size: ?
Materials: Stainless steel / glass
continuous coarse / fine adjustment
ball bearing guided rotary axis
=======
Panama
Hopper capacity: ?
Height: 12.5 cm
Diameter: 4.5 cm
Burr type/size: ?
Materials: forged steel
continuous coarse / fine adjustment
collection container with Kaffeelot
ball bearing guided rotary axis
=======

Can anyone fill the blanks on the hopper capacity, burrs, grind quality?

I owned a Pharos but recently sold it. (Despite its superb grind quality, the hopper was too awkward to load, the short handle made it hard to grind lightly roasted beans, and there was no stable/non-painful way to cradle it while grinding).

I'm also considering the Lido 2, but it looks large and heavy, and is not currently in stock anyway.

Also considering the Knock "hausgrind" but that's also not in stock and I suspect the price is beyond $200.

Any suggestions? Should I wait for the Lido 2 to be back in stock? Or would one of the aforementioned Z grinders suffice?

The Lido2 has a hopper that will easily hold that quantity of grinds, and it is an exceptionally good brew grinder for its price range. It excels at all your criteria except portability, and even there it isn't too bad, especially if you pick up a smaller plastic catch cup for travel purposes.

I haven't used the Zass grinders you mentioned, so I can't speak to those. The hausgrind is more than 200 USD, but not by much. It is more portable than the Lido2, but it has a smaller hopper which is a bit fussy to load. You could probably fit 32g in there with a funnel.

I regularly put 40g of beans into my Hausgrind, though doing so is a little fussy as you say.

Thanks for the fast reply.

Have you used the hausgrind? [edit: sorry, I see that you both used the hausgrind. Disregard this question.]

Is the grind quality on par with the Lido2?

The Lido 2 seems to suffer from the same problem plaguing the Pharos: it's too hard to turn the handle.

I'm a pretty big guy with big hands. It was so hard to turn the handles, on the Pharos, that I decided to sell it. It was a deal breaker.

All videos I've seen show people struggling to turn the Lido's handle: Even Doug and Barb seem to struggle with it in all their videos.

Whereas all the videos of the hausgrind show no such struggles (by both men and women).

Is this a consequence of the Lido's burr size? If so, OE should make the handle larger to compensate. For that shortcoming, I likely won't buy the Lido 2.

I own the Pharos, Lido 2 and Hausgrind and use them a lot.
The Hausgrind comfortably holds 50g of beans and I find filling it is easy from something with a spout. I have a small 2oz measuring cup that I use to weigh my beans and it easily pours into the Hausgrind. I much prefer grinding with the Hausgrind compared to the Lido 2. I've ground 7-8 lbs through each.

Grind quality of Hausgrind is on par with Lido 2.
My Hausgrind is 600g lighter than my Lido 2.

I also own both the Lido2 and the Hausgrind. Here's how I would break down their advantages/disadvantages:

1. Ease of turning? Very similar, with a slight edge to the Hausgrind. The Lido2 is a bit of extra work before you've broken it in, but that can be accelerated by adding a drop of oil to the knob. Once it is broken in it takes minimal effort to turn, throughout the brewing range. I still wish it had a knob like the hausgrind's, though.

2. Ease of loading? A clear win for the Lido2. The giant funnel makes things effortless, whereas I have to be very careful not to spill beans when loading the Hausgrind, even after many sessions of practice.

3. Suitability for espresso? A clear win for the Hausgrind. The grind quality in this range is very similar, but the Hausgrind's adjustment mechanism makes it easier to find tune the grind size to dial in a good flow rate. Trying to do fine adjustments with the Lido2's locking ring system is an exercise in frustration.

4. Suitability for pour-over brewing? Very similar, possibly with a slight edge to the Lido2. I've made exceptional cups with both grinders.

5. Suitability for cupping and metal-filtered immersion brewing? Close, but a win for the Lido2, which seems to produce more even output at these sizes.

6. Portability? A win for the Hausgrind, but not by a wide margin, especially once you replace the glass catch cup on the Lido2 with a smaller, lighter plastic one.

7. Price and availability? Slight lead to the Lido2 on both.

So how it all shakes out for me is that I like the ergonomics of the Lido2 better as a daily driver, and that is indeed what I use for everything but espresso these days at home. I haven't done any blind testing yet, but I think it has a very slight lead for pour-over brewing, that widens a bit as you move up to immersion methods. I take the Hausgrind when I'm traveling or visiting a friend's house. Which suits you better depends on how you weight those differing characteristics. But don't get distracted by the ease-of-turning aspect, which seems to have been blown out of proportion by a few folks who were using early prototypes or grinders that hadn't yet been broken in.

The main point is that both of these are outstanding grinders that meet or exceed the quality of electric brew grinders that cost 2-3 times as much. Both are built to last, by people who really care about the quality of their products. Whichever one you choose should make you very happy.

On drip, with a little practice, there is not much of a struggle with the lido. I can highly recommend it. The other grinders you mention (besides the hausgrind) are poorly made.

Wow, I wasn't expecting such a superb set of responses. You've all given me a lot to consider.

It will come done to either the Lido 2 or the hausgrind.

I'll be happy with either, so I'll just buy the first one that comes in stock.

Thanks again folks!
D

Lido 2 is presently available for pre-order for October delivery. http://www.oehandgrinders.com/LIDO-2_c_23.html

I would definitely preorder the lido 2 if you're serious about it. The Tote is pretty awesome as well but it looks like its now in a vomit green color? Mine is a nice navy color.