Decent vs La Marzocco Linea Micra (or Mini) - Page 6

#51: Post by **Deephaven** » January 26th, 2023, 8:26 pm

Shopping myself, but only between two types of machines. Those that are completely manual or with very simple/off the shelf PID's and their polar opposite in the Decent. My current Vetrano consumes parts at a somewhat expensive rate. 3 rotary pumps, countless sets of E61 rebuild parts, fluid level sensor, gauge, etc. All easy enough to do on my own, but I can't imagine had it come with a computer 17 years ago what I'd have had to do to replace it. I have more faith in the LM than I do the controller box on the Lelit or the like to be around in 5 years, but 15? I expect some odd retrofit that will be rather expensive will be required.

The DE1 will definitely have odd and proprietary things fail. Something that may turn it into a paperweight in that time....but for how the machine is designed and the open'ish source nature of it all I expect that there will be a logical workaround retrofit as well. Right now, I dying for a demo of the DE1 to make sure it is right for my workflow. If so, it'll be what I buy as well.

#52: Post by **Primacog** » January 26th, 2023, 9:32 pm

The decent and LM micra seem to be worlds apart and are totally different approaches to making coffee. Normqlly one would be ideally making a choice between a few machines which offee roughly the same approach in coffee making and then its a straight forward process of finding out which is the best fit for your preferences and needs. But if you r not sure which approach is what u r looking for, it seems premature to me to be trying to decide which machine u want because u will just get analysis paralysis.

Therefore rather than try to decide between these two machines, to me, the first question the OP needs to ask himself is - what are u going to use the machine for? Do u just want a stable and reliable consistent platform to make coffee that lools good on your kitchen counter or do you want a test bed machine that u can experiment with changing any variable and pressure profile and do almost anything coffee based with?

If the answer is the former, then LM is a strong contender. The LM brand name is very strong and its bound to be a quality well made product. But there may also be other contenders u can then winnow down the choices to now that u have settled on which approach u really want.

But if the answer is the latter, the decent is the clear winner. The LM isnt going to be able to do half the things the decent can do, and i havent seen anything out there rthat can do wjat the decent can do.

If u want ti be able to do both to some extent, then there are many machines that can do the job. A hybrid lever machine like the nurri i have would also seem to me to fit the bill in this middle territory. It will be able to do more experimentatioj than the LM can while still giving you that design aesthetic and tactile and analogue simplicity of just making coffee.

#53: Post by **Deephaven** » January 26th, 2023, 10:09 pm

Primacog wrote:Therefore rather than try to decide between these two machines, to me, the first question the OP needs to ask himself is - what are u going to use the machine for? Do u just want a stable and reliable consistent platform to make coffee that lools good on your kitchen counter or do you want a test bed machine that u can experiment with changing any variable and pressure profile and do almost anything coffee based with?

I travel a ton, so the DE1 fits another spot for me. My wife complains like crazy how much better the coffee is when I am home. With the Decent I can play, change things, vary everything but my wife can hit a button and go. She can tamp, but too many adjustments make her question everything. The profiling will also help her learn....or so I hope.

January 27th, 2023, 3:07 am

Certainly if one wants a portable machine that can travel the world with us and that can do all kinds of coffee experiments with, the decent is probably the only candidate...

#55: Post by **null** » January 28th, 2023, 2:15 am

Plinyyounger wrote:Just curious what types of bugs you have on a weekly basis? I've never had such issues.

Most commonly, losing pairing with my Decent Scale. Easily resolved (and a fair trade given no other machine on the market currently will cut a shot based on weight). One might argue that all bluetooth can be squirrely, but this only started after an incremental upgrade within Stable; which is why I refer to it as a bug. I could/should rollback.

Then there are the one-off issues, like shots stopping because the machine thinks it hit a volumetric or weight limit when nowhere near the target.

Nothing all that serious, particularly in balance for what you get. My comment was that the Decent is quite buggy compared to a La Marzocco. Even with the IoT kit, my GS/3 has never failed to make an espresso on the first attempt.

#56: Post by **ira** » January 28th, 2023, 12:35 pm

The Decent software does magic things, nothing any other current machine can do. But the software is not perfect, if you've never found a problem, mor power to you. For some of use it's a somewhat constant series of surprises. I put up with it because of what the machine does and I wish it felt like development was moving faster. But I point out, that I'm pretty much capable of finding bugs in any software because I tend to do thing in ways most people never think of. I spend the time to see if the problems can be consistently duplicated so the programmer has a chance of fixing them. This has been my life since I found a bug, reported it and then became a beta tester for the first piece of software I purchased back in 1985 or so. I do use the Nightly release which is the most unstable version but has the most features. Those who use the Stable release are much less likely to find problems.

For most users, most of the time, the machine just works and Decent's support while sometimes seeming a bit slow is still quite good. And it lets you do things nothing else well.

#57: Post by **ron231** » January 29th, 2023, 3:57 am

Ya know, a Bianca or Synchronika with flow control is sort of half way between the two.

There are very few decent profiles you can't emulate with flow control and practice. Slayer shots are very easy on these.

#58: Post by **doug** » January 30th, 2023, 9:36 am

Just wanted to clarify a couple items on the Decent.

You don't need the tablet to make espresso or steam milk once you've chosen or created a profile. If having a tablet bothers anyone, you can put it away after the first few days of dialing in, and just use grinder adjustments to fine tune your shots from them on. The machine will use whatever your last profile was. Tap and hold for 3s on the center of the group head panel to turn the machine on and off. I don't mind the tablet, and have replaced the stock one with a larger one with better speakers, so I can play music or hear the morning news as I do my morning ritual... but I've used the Decent plenty of times with no tablet at all.

It doesn't have a paddle, but the touch group head controls IS your paddle. Press down and slide left or right on the front of the panel to change the flow rate and save that shot that's coming out a bit fast or slow. Not as full range as a Slayer or Mini paddle, but enough to tweak the shot.

Somebody said the water reservoir or drip tray is breakable. I'd personally rather not have plastic, and good ceramic is very durable. But I do agree that reaching around the back to raise the water siphon and pull the water tray out for cleaning and/or refilling could be easier.

I like the energy efficiency of the Decent, and LOVE that it's usually ready to make a shot as fast as I am. Turn it on in the morning, and start weighing beans and doing puck prep as it warms up. By the time you've finished grinding, WDT, leveling, tamping half the time the Decent is ready or within thirty seconds of being ready (2 minutes, 37 seconds on my DE1XL).

#59: Post by **Ypuh** » January 31st, 2023, 9:20 am

This topic turned into all about the likes and dislikes of Decent. There's little to say about the La Marzocco. It's there, it works, it makes good coffee and that's it. That kinda sums it all up.

I'd love to explore the Decent for a week or 2, but that's also just it. In my opinion it lacks the feel of a coffee machine. I work in IT, but the next person forcing a tablet in my face adding multiple complications instead of resolving them gets thrown out of the nearest window. If you take away the software that 100% depends on a community to progress, you're left with a cheap plastic machine making funny noises.

After putting down €5.000 for a coffee machine I don't want to rely on a community for performing a daily task . For that amount I want a pleasant experience, something that not only performs well but also looks and feels the part. Multiple brands can provide you that experience, some with features similar to the Decent but a rich history and solid componentry such as Sanremo or Slayer. Functional pieces of art with the technical complexity and features to back up the premium price, rather than the latest gadget from China.

The Porsche vs. Tesla comparison says it all for me. I really like brands such as Tesla that push for change (just as I do with Decent), but would never own one. I'd rather wait for premium manufacturers to catch-up, having the ability to build a solid machine, taking the best new features and execute them well instead of using consumers for beta testing.

Fwiw, most Decent's end up in the marketplace after a year or two when exploration is over. You can likely make your money back for 80%, so all-in-all I don't believe it's a bad purchase and you'll learn a lot.

#60: Post by **Quester** » January 31st, 2023, 9:30 am

Ypuh wrote:If you take away the software that 100% depends on a community to progress, you're left with a cheap plastic machine making funny noises.

How did you reach the "plastic" conclusion?