Doh! It was late when I read it and I could have sworn it said best.

I picked one up recently and I love it. The bar wasn't set too high with my previous Grinta though, or so I'm told.

Pros
-Very little waste
-Adjustable timed grind
-Quiet
-Small
-Easy to dial in

Cons
-Annoying blue LED is always on. The geeky kid at the store actually thought this was a cool selling point.
-PF fork doesn't work for bottomless PF. Not a big deal as I grind into the bucket and pour this into my yogurt cup ready PF. This is not for WDT purposes it's just for tidiness. Even if the fork held my PF I'd still find it too messy and would continue with my current method.

nixter wrote:Annoying blue LED is always on.

I made a similar comment; the blue LED lovers pointed out that pressing the Manual button and then up/down button would turn it off.

thanks dan. I have actually been doing just that but I still find it odd that there's no lcd timeout that turns everything off.

I love the blue light, I live the blue light, I WORSHIP the blue light.
Seriously, WHAT is everyone's problem with the blue light?
It ain't in the bedroom, so why the angst. I've been in close contact with the blue light for about 2 hours of combined grinding/adjusting, and I styiel havb myt 20/02 eyesigyhtr.

My Elektra Nino has a blue light....

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

Blue is the new [insert your favourite colour here]

michaelbenis wrote:My Elektra Nino has a blue light....

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

Blue is the new [insert your favourite colour here]

And for all that money, we also got an off button...

shadowfax wrote:And for all that money, we also got an off button...

However, neither of you appear to have a sense of humor.

Folks, though the Vario's popcorning isn't a huge problem, I did notice a bit of a loose pull when I was down to the last 14 grams or so. (I forgot to reload the hopper.)
For kicks, I loaded about 16 grams, and covered everything with a single basket. (mine is tiny, a 49mm, but I believe a 58 single would fit.)
Anyhow, the subsequent grind must have been a bit more uniform, as the subsequent shot shot pulled a lot better than that previous time.
I guess this might allow those that like grinding by the dose to do so more effectively, though with the timer's accuracy in granting a repeatable dose and minimal waste, it would seem that a grind by dose would no longer be needed. Unless one is changing bean type often.
One other thing I've noticed, is a 1 second "purge" in the morning helps my first shot of the day, as the pour is better, and the taste more lively.

IMAWriter wrote:One other thing I've noticed, is a 1 second "purge" in the morning helps my first shot of the day, as the pour is better, and the taste more lively.

I assume that is because the grind chamber has stale grounds in it from the day before.

All the reports to-date of the near-zero grounds retention of the Vario refer to grinding until empty. I don't think anyone has measured how much is retained in the grind chamber itself, nor how one would measure it. A short purge as you suggest should clear it quickly; I do that for all grinders, it's only a matter of how long it runs / how much gets wasted. Even for ground retention hogs, one-half to a full single shot's worth is enough.