inmitch wrote:Hey, I am currently in the same boat.. although I'm getting rid of my Vario. I know I'm in the minority but I did not like the Vario at all. It seemed very inconsistent in grind, and even seemed to slip out of adjustment. I sent the first one back to Baratza who promptly replaced it with a refurb., which I was OK with. The levers felt tighter, but it still seemed to slip out of adjustment after 24oz or so. I also noticed HUGE differences in grind even with the micro adjustments. And there seemed to be overlap in many of the grind settings, as you switched the right hand adjustment. Anyway.. I just got a Mini Vivaldi and I'm selling Vario and a Crossland CC1 (Santa Cruz area.. will post on sale part), so I'm in the market for a grinder. I like the F4 because it has a couple of settings down to a tenth of a second, but I have heard they can be difficult to adjust to to the tightness of the collar. The Macap M4 is supposed to be easier to adjust, but it doesn't have precise timing control. They are identical in motor size, RPM, and burr size.
But.. Hudson had to go along and bring up the Quamar M80E... Larger motor, 460w vs. 250 on the other two, 63mm burrs vs. 58 on the other two...Still grinds at the same speed. The new version even has THREE time settings like the Vario. Why wouldn't everyone buy this grinder... is it because it only has 60 grind settings? Any input on this please?
First of all, as an ex Vario owner I concur with your experiences. The Vario was well named because grind quality varies all over the place and consistency is not one of its features. As for the Quamar, you should read around. On paper it looks great but there are quite a few reports from owners who were not satisfied with it and exchanged it pretty quickly.
