Assuming quality water is used by the user for the machine, how is maintenance handled regarding scale?

There's an descale process, on a regular basis, where you put a descaling agent into the water tank and run a descaling process. All espresso machines need regular descaling.

Yes, I and just about everyone on this forum knows espresso machines need descaling. Some are relatively easy and some are a PITA. What is the process for the Decent machine? Drop a tablet and run a routine from the tablet? Explaining the maintenance would be helpful to prospective buyers.

decent_espresso wrote:Sneak preview of the UI of the DE1+.

Here's my feedback, it's remarkable. Make it work as advertised and reliably and you're going to blow the home market wide open. Reliability is key though, there seems to be a lot of potential failure points (tons of sensors, hot water and hot electronics in a very tight space, thin metal, etc.) - if you want this crowd to turn in our stainless behemoths with our giant boilers, you're going to need more than amazing features (and they truly are amazing) - the machines need to be tough. Keep the updates coming, very exciting stuff!

Fausto wrote:hot water and hot electronics in a very tight space, thin metal, etc.) - if you want this crowd to turn in our stainless behemoths with our giant boilers, you're going to need more than amazing features (and they truly are amazing) - the machines need to be tough.

FYI our beta 2 machine has boxed in the circuit boards and electronics, so that they are both heat and water separated from the rest of the machine. And there's a quiet fan on the back panel, blowing cool air into the circuit board area. You're right that packing this much tech and heat-generating equipment in a small space means that heat needs to be carefully thought through. This beta 2 also lifts the top box by about 3mm on the legs, causing a hard-to-spot air gap where cool air comes in from the sides, and also thermally isolating the machine from the water tank below.

We've used top end components everywhere, such as solid teflon tubing, to aim for reliability, and we've worked with two Seattle espresso repair shops since the beginning of this design process, to follow best practice.

It makes perfect sense that for those people where reliability is key, they might want to wait for the DE1 to be out in people's homes for a while, before they buy one themselves.

How much is this machine expected to cost?

$999 for the DE1, and $1999 for the DE1+.

Oh, ok, thanks! And what will the differences be between the two?

See:
https://decentespresso.com/de1
https://decentespresso.com/de1plus

and comparison table:
https://decentespresso.com/compare

decent_espresso wrote:It makes perfect sense that for those people where reliability is key, they might want to wait for the DE1 to be out in people's homes for a while, before they buy one themselves.

Yes as excited as I am by what you're doing, I'll be waiting a while to hear from early adopters.