Saeco Intuita HD8750/13

One of the best purchases – I love it. You put the beans in the hopper, select the granularity, press a button and watch the coffee arrive at the cup. The hopper gets some coffee grinds that end up at the bottom of the hopper area so you need to clean that up. So far, the maintenance required has to descale it, grease up the hopper action arm and empty out the drip tray.  Show details ·  2

Just, ...Brilliant! – I bought this machine (HD8750) from The Good Guys 3 years ago. A mate of mine used to have a mobile espresso business and he helped me with the 'little things' that a novice like me didn't know. To be honest, without his help, I don't know how long it would have taken to get it working perfectly, but that would certainly apply to any coffee… Read more ·  1

machine set up. Getting the 'puck' right takes time. Who knew that things like 'humidity' and changing coffee bean brands can affect your coffee making? Certainly not me! The instructions are very concise though, and the machine is very easy to program, and once it is set up for your beans, it is as simple as pushing a button! If you are a coffee 'purest', then, you probably won't be happy with any automatic machine under 2 grand, but if like me you would rather go without coffee than drink 'instant', and you are no longer happy to fork out five bucks a cup, after queuing in a crowded franchise shop space for up to 20 minutes on your way to work to get your 'morning fix', then this is the machine for you!

Mine was around $400. (Around 80 x 'Grande' Flat Whites!) It was a run out model. It literally paid for itself in a couple of months in our household. We found a brand of bean we liked which is only around $15kg at Woolworths (after trying several brands) and I started adding Caramel milk shake syrup to my wife's ones as that was her drink of choice. (Coffee tip: Enough caramel makes any 'Caramel Latte' taste good, apparently!) This machine is amazing. If I could sum it up in one word, it would have to be "consistent". It consistently makes the coffee, exactly the same. And that's what I wanted, as I was sick of paying for a coffee from the same shop only to have it taste different when 'my usual girl' wasn't working. I have not used the milk frothing attachment as I like flat whites, so frothing of the milk has been my life. I am a one cup a day man, but my wife has 3-6 cups a day (I know right!), and guess who has to make them?!

Our one is starting to show signs of age now, but I am more than happy with the service it has provided loyally for the time we have had it, and I absolutely will be seriously considering another equivalent Saeco Intuita, or likely the next model up, and have absolutely no hesitation whatsoever about recommending this model in particular, and brand in general.

The downside: This uses a bit of water (like all self cleaners), and the de-scaling process is regular, if not a bit OTT, and it takes a few tanks of water to complete. I normally move the machine to the bench/sink to do this. We used to use filtered water only, but gave that up after a year and now just use tap water. You also have to remember to purge the water out of your steamer prior to steaming the milk. Like all machines in this price bracket, steaming milk for multiple coffees takes the time. No luck yet in trying to convert my wife into a "short black" drinker!

The must haves: A milk steaming jug and a proper coffee temp gauge will help ensure your coffees come out consistent also. (I have a second jug I keep under the spout when not in use to catch the pre-steam water 'purge', and the self clean water -which reduces the need to empty the drip tray.

I love this machine! Best 400 bucks I ever spent!

Great Machine – Very happy and the after sales service is also great. I have no complaints. The machine gets used more than expected and many coffee bags. Its great to meet around the machine for a coffee a few times a day and chat and just chill and speak to friends. Will defiantly get another one.  Show details ·  1

A problem from day 1 – This machine makes barely palatable coffee, is impossible and frustrating, time consuming, temperamental to maintain and cleaning is a nightmare. I have spent hours trying to get it to work and had very few coffees I've enjoyed, despite trying a huge range of expensive coffee beans. If you follow instructions strictly on maintenance you would Be spending several hours a week on it.

perfect machine – bought it from Harvy Norman three years ago and use it almost everyday and it works every times. Remember cost us around $400 and it is a bargain for an automatic machine. There are some maintenance work but I just buy some generic calc clean and it is also semi-automatic and works fine.  Show reply

Great Machine But Espresso Not Hot Enough – This is an excellent machine. Consistent, great espresso with little maintenance. However, the temperature of the espresso is luke warm. I would really appreciate it if someone from Saeco can help me with a diagnostic fix to get the temperature up! Thank you in advance. Robert  Show reply

Hasn't missed a beat in over a year – Use it daily, for espresso and flat whites. Haven't had to mess with any settings and get a great cup every time. Takes all the mess and time out of a more manual machine.  Show reply

As good or better than Starbucks – We love it! We pull 6 shots a day and use the cheapest beans from Costco. It delivers crema and flavor. Easy to use. The foam is outstanding. We've had many semiautomatic and manual machines over the years. (Our last one was the Saeco Easy. After years of faithful service, it died.) We learned the hard way to only use reverse osmosis water in our… Read more

machines -- that really extends the life. We get it from the refill machines at the grocery store for 25 cents a gallon. This machine has the quietest grinder we've had. With our Gaggia we had to muffle the sounds with pillows if we had guests sleeping! We've found that the milk we use makes a difference in the foaming. Some brands simply foam better than others. My husband was a barrista at a local It's A Grind for awhile, and he says this machine produces a latte equivalent to the ones he made professionally. Of course, it takes longer than a commercial machine, but it's amazing to even find a home machine that delivers lattes that taste like ones you pay big money for. price, foam, flavor

YUMMY COFFEE – we bought this unit from Harvey normans and I love it , could not go back to instant coffee , no way . its not to loud easy to clean , and coffees come out real nice ,only problem is , it comes out luke warm , but a 30 sec micro zap and its just right ease of clean , reliability , speed of making a nice coffee it doesn't get hot enough for me , i… Read more ·  2

just zap it in the micro for 30 secs . um the reinstalling of the brew group after cleaning was a problem for awhile but watched a utube review and now its a breeze

Intuita – Brought our machine & found it a bit difficult to follow instructions that came with machine as they were only in French. Second time we descaled & cleaned unit, we were not able to get the brewer unit back in & have a spring loaded wire hanging down stopping it from going back into place. Can't contact Phillips in Australia only through Asian… Read more

call centre were staff are next to useless & can't help let alond speak proper english & the appalling lines they use. took 7 phone calls before I could get a chap I could barely understand to give me a service centre. thats taken a week so far meanwhile still haven't got a machine that works. Bitterly disappointed with our purchase. Shame Phillips Shame no customer service on the phones what so ever. wouldn't recommend it to anyone at this stage. It not as big or as noisy as our last machine No Australia service call centre, can't contact Phillip in Australia

Great! Except: calc clean! – I bought one at Harvey Norman in late January - the price was right in the after Christmas sale! I love everything about my machine - coffee is delicious (I buy freshly-roasted beans at Coffee Company in St. Kilda) and I am getting the hang of doing a nice microfoam with frothing wand - either right in the mug or in a jug (if I am doing more than… Read more

one drink at a time). It is easy to clean - I am religious about the weekly cleans and monthly lubrication. My single (but becoming significant) complaint is: the CALC CLEAN! The light just came on AGAIN! I have already done it 4 times! This means I am running the calc clean almost every month! I have Melbourne water which is not really hard / mineral-ey. When I asked at HN if this seemed too often the salesperson implied that if I had purchased the store warranty (I did not) they would replace the machine. So, yes - TOO OFTEN. I pull around 3 shots / day (+ froth milk and quickly rinse the wand via the hot water function). But still! It seems it is asking me to run the calc clean more than twice as often as the manual says! If a Saeco rep responds I would love to know how often the light really should be coming on and is this excessive. (And, the light comes on steady, not blinking. Am I meant to wait until the calc clean light is blinking? The product manual implies the calc clean light blinks ... I have never seen it blink ... I am totally paranoid about voiding the warranty, so I run the calc clean (with the Saeco-specific solution) through as soon as I can once the light comes on.) If it weren't for this issue, I would add another star, for sure. Coffee quality, frother, easy-to-clean, price It needs a calc clean cycle every month!

Disappointed – Did not deliver. I purchased this machine believing it not only ground coffee beans but that it also took pre ground coffee. Not the case... I didn't get to make any coffee, couldn't find out where to the pre ground coffee, so I contacted Philips, who advised me that there was no where for the pre ground coffee to go !!! Oh ok.. So why have it… Read more

mentioned in your user manual ? We will correct that ! Did not get a chance to make coffee with it, it's going back to the store. Misleading information