I'm having a really hard time in getting ahold of the Izzo salesman, so I'm looking around. I found this macchine: http://www.cimeitalia.com/en/product/CO-01/ at a very good price. How van I say whether it is any good or not? Thank you.

Tia93 wrote:I'm waiting for a response from Rocket's sales just to have an idea of the price of their HXs (the R58 looks gorgeous, but I'd like to stick with a HX for now).

For what it's worth, I'm simply in love with my Rocket Evoluzione. It can be plumbed in or used from the reservoir, which is a big plus for me.
They usually sell for around 1550€ in web stores (or a little bit more for the Giotto-version). If you get a good price for one, I'm quite sure you won't be disappointed. Their other HXs are less expensive.

For saving some money, you could look at Nueva Simonelli Oscar at elektros.it they sell it with a very good price. You can (and definitely should) also have the OPV, anti vacuum, Sirai pressostat and gicleurs pre-installed by them (which make it a lot better machine than it's reputation usually is). It still looks a little bit like a toy though, being compact sized and with a plastic cover.

Thanks for your advice. I've been looking at Rockets, I'm waiting for an email that tells me when machines will be ready (they told me 3rd of May regarding the R58, then I asked for the Evoluzione), I love almost everything of it (rotary pump, look, etc), but I'm not quite convinced. Instead, I actually don't like the Oscar, I'd rather go with something I actually enjoy looking at (and the Rockets, the Duetto, the Faema, etc; to me they're just stunning).

Tia93 wrote:I actually don't like the Oscar, I'd rather go with something I actually enjoy looking at (and the Rockets, the Duetto, the Faema, etc; to me they're just stunning).

I understand you pretty well. That's why I upgraded to a Rocket instead of Oscar (which would have been close to 900€ cheaper). I plan to be looking at it for years and years to come...

BTW, since you are in Italy, if you plumb in your machine make sure that you have a very good water softener installed. My experiences with Italian tap water are that it usually is extremely hard. Of course it may vary from place to place, so at least check it before you put any tap water into your new machine. It might save you from a lot of trouble later on.

Thank you for your advice, but I'm not planning on plumbing in anytime soon (I live in a rented house, not an awesome idea start doing things I don't really know anything about; but I'll move sooner or later, so could be an idea to get a machine that can be either tank or plumb-in used - Rocket, Duetto, even the CIME can be used in both ways). Did you live in Italy?

Tia93 wrote:Did you live in Italy?

Nope. I just seem to end up spending most of my holidays there.

I've noticed that in many places in Italy even in less than a week my Aeropress turns white from the inside because of scale in the tap water. You do not want that inside your machine. You'd better use bottled water (or a really good water softener).