Decided to post separate thread since the LMLM User Experience thread is pretty long and has a lot of detail in it. Do look through that thread also of course if you are considering purchase.

Making the long story below short, it's simple to use and consistently makes great coffee. It's also very well supported.

BACKGROUND
I've had the machine for a few months.

• Purchased a moka pot (Bialetti Moka Express) at duty free on a return trip from Italy when I first discovered coffee.
  Then an Olympia Cremina lever machine in the 1980s
  2nd machine was a Rancilio Silvia and
  last machine before the LMLM was a double boiler E61 (expobar brewtus 2)

HARDWARE
My LMLM is plumbed-in from an Everpure EF-1500 filter from new york city tap. Compak K10 Fresh grinder, IDR dosing funnel and dissecting needle for WDT, VST 20g basket in naked LM portafilter, ACAIA lunar scale

COFFEES
LM subscription, Blue Bottle 17 ft ceiling and Hayes Valley, Others (e.g. Stumptown Hairbender, Counter Culture Big Trouble, Grumpy, etc)
Usually extracting at 1:1, but sometimes at 1:1.5 or even 1:2 depending on the blend.

EXPERIENCE
Boring. The LMLM is basically just the same thing everytime. Flow is just right. Temp control seems spot on. It just works. Set the temp, grind, distribute and tamp properly, lock the filter in and turn the switch (paddle). And the coffee will be just right. Nuances of the blend (or single origin) shining through and appropriate body/thickness/syrupy based on ratio/timing I choose to shoot for.

Seriously the machine creates great coffee consistently.

I was concerned going in on 2 things - setting the temp (it's analog setting with no digital readout of what the temp actually is) and the steam wand being on the right side which is not ideal for the physical setup I needed to put it in.

Those 2 are basically non-issues, although a readout to know the temp would be nice. It's not difficult to set the temp and it's stable so I can just adjust it based on taste to the extent I have the skill to do that.

I rarely make milk drinks, and I've not gotten the frothing down but typically I can pull decent froth and occasionally hit it (microfoam) perfectly - i'm sure if i worked on it i'd be able to do it - takes practice and i have not put the time in.

In addition to a readout (digital or analog) of the temp that the machine is at, it would be nice to have other variables to play with and other improvements like

• pressure profiling
  or the ability to easily change the brew pressure (it can be changed from standard 9 bar but not very easily/simply)
  or the ability to change the pre-infusion time and wait time (1 second each)
  it could cost half the price
  It could have an auto-on/off timer feature

These things would be good, and maybe we'll get all of this in a simple clean LMLM version 2 machine, but they are not required for sure.

I am very happy with the machine as-is and I recommend it.

In addition, the support from La Marzocco home and from the local technicians they recommended to do the plumb-in, is excellent. That expected support was one of the reasons I purchased an LM and I was not disappointed.

I've just put my order in for one. It's good to hear you are getting similar results to what I did when trying them out. How does it compare to your expobar brewtus 2?

Hang on. You had an Cremina and then you subsequently bought a Silvia? I don't get it.

Yes, Cremina first (new for $300!!! @ Zabars) then the Silvia maybe 10 years later for double that amount I think.

When I purchased the Cremina (early 1980s?) I don't know if the Silvia existed - I certainly was not aware of it at the time.
The Cremina needed a big service after about 10 years and I decided that instead I'd go with one of those new newfangled (semi-) automatic machines like the silvia.

The Brewtus Expobar 2 was a really good machine. But not consistent like the LMLM (although that old model did not have modern tech like a PID). At it's best (on rare occasions), it produced coffee as good as I regularly get from the LMLM. However I can't say from experience if the LMLM is significantly better than a current model Brewtus.

One thing I noted - the brewtus with e61 would typically take 8+ seconds before coffee started to flow (typical e61 i think), and with the LMLM it comes out pretty soon after being turned on which is interesting. The LMLM has 1 second pre-infusion, 1 second wait, then on again.

One thing that's nice to see on the LMLM is the gathering of the coffee on the naked portafilter - the flow looks really good - it almost always quickly aligns to a single stream and on the brewtus it often took many seconds after flow started to align to a single stream.
that of course could be due to lack of skill on my part which the brewtus does not compensate for as well as the LMLM.

hope this helps and i will say - you cannot go wrong with that LMLM. It's a great machine.
It would be nice if they sold it with the plastic parts swapped out for wood parts like how they allow you to configure the GS3.

I second your review. The Linea Mini is excellent, almost boringly good at pulling shots. The milk steaming is also outstanding. I finally feel like I'm getting proper microfoam: totally smooth and wet-paint-like so it's easy to pour latte art. On my old machines (Gaggia Classic with Silvia wand and various e61 clones) I could get OK microfoam, but not as creamy and smooth as with a true commercial machine.

Customer service from LM Home has also been excellent. They quickly sent me replacement parts when I had a broken water line from the pump, and when my pressure stat failed. They even sent me a copy of LM T shirts. Great service, which makes the high price of the machine a little more bearable.

BTW, I don't know if you know this already, but LM now offers replacement wood parts for the Mini as well as the GS3. They have a wood paddle, wood PF handles, and now even wood steam/water knobs and a wood piece to replace that plastic group cover. Pricey, but they do make the machine look even better. I have the wood paddle and PF in walnut, but haven't gotten the other bits yet.

https://home.lamarzoccousa.com/product- ... tom-parts/

One thing I noted - the brewtus with e61 would typically take 8+ seconds before coffee started to flow (typical e61 i think), and with the LMLM it comes out pretty soon after being turned on which is interesting.

I am on my second LMLM after numerous issues with my initial machine. My dealer, Seattle Coffee Gear, was very unhelpful, but La Marzocco stepped in and took care of me by sending me a new machine. So for a short while, I had 2 LMLMs to compare side-by-side.

On my 2nd machine, water flow rate is much higher than the 1st one, at ~1.5x faster rate IIRC. Time to first drip is also much shorter on the 2nd machine.

I then replaced the stock 0.8mm gicleur with a 0.6mm one, and now coffee comes out much slower, just like the 1st machine.

It is not only the gicleur, the Expobar have a preinfusion chamber which linea mini does not have. The second is, as you mentioned, a much faster flow due to the gigler 0.8. Although the expobar has higer flow on rotary models but on vibration has like linea with 0.6 gicleur.
And my Linea MIni also have 0.8 gicleur. It's obviously a standard.

I have spent weeks on this awesome forum and never even heard of LM until registering here.
Ordered a red LMLM today and I can't wait..

Hey good to hear you went for the LMLM!

There was a lot of back and forth between other machines and models but the red one just made me smile and goes so well with my red grinder. Wife was 100% on board... Now I am just waiting for the delivery. CANT WAIT