Need advice,

I'm second in line if the first party no shows. Is a Unico Splendor considered a substantial upgrade from a Europiccola V2.4? any serious downsides other than a noisy vibration pump?

Never heard of them but Diadema looks like a brand of BFC. BFC isn't common in North America, but are in Oz/New Zealand, but were (weirdly) sold by Costco in Canada a few years ago. Ever hear of BFC srl espresso machines ?

Sounds like a basic Italian E-61 HX so components are probably pretty standard. In contrast to a Europiccola, there's a 40 minute warm-up time.

Nice-looking machine, a little different in a sea of chrome E-61 boxes. I'd pick it up, if the price was really good.

Thanks for your input. It's only $250 CAD and cosmetically primo so will pick it up if #1 no shows. It apparently loses full pressure from time to time and no other issues so I'll likely have to dive into it to straighten it out but nothing I can't handle with help from online info & forums.

Surprised it was sold via Costco as they usually have more homogeneous products.

It'll be a fun project if it comes through, as the EP has been these last couple of months.

Cheers