So, here’s the deal, fellow coffee lovers: I got tired of my single-cup brewers dying after about two years consistently and sprung for The Mega Machine. I’m a professor and when I have negative feedback for a student then I always start and end with something positive. Let me begin by saying that I really do enjoy the fresh ground-and-brewed coffee that you get when using the carafe. Now for the negatives:1. I have to unplug the machine after every use because if, like me, you like to leave various things open to air dry (I don’t want a moldy coffeemaker, do you?) then all sorts of lights start flashing and the machine won’t turn OFF when it registers that something is amiss. I can’t use any of the handy programmable features since I can’t leave it plugged in so every morning my coffeemaker is the machine version of Drew Barrymore in “50 First Dates.”2. You must remove the grinder after every brewed pot even if you don’t grind anything because it gets chock full of moisture. And when you DO grind then said moisture totally gums up the works and a bunch of your fresh grounds don’t slide on down into the brewing basket.3. Speaking of the grinder - what a disappointment it was to discover that it only works in tandem with the carafe! Want freshly ground beans to use with the single cup feature? Then you’ll need to have your mortar and pestle at the ready because the on-board grinder lives on the opposite side of town from the single-cup brewer and they’re not on speaking terms.4. If you’re a tree-hugger and want to use your own coffee in a reusable single-serve pod then have fun finding one that works with this machine! It says that it’s compatible with “most” reusable k-cup filters but I tried three different ones and they all resulted in water running around the outside of the filters and dribbling out - sometimes into the cup but mostly all over the counter. The one DIY reusable pod that works with this coffee maker is NOT included with the machine. You need to spend another $12 on the official Cuisineart HomeBarista pod (conveniently available on this very site!). I don’t believe in single-use k-cups so, again, a bummer.5. If you enjoy playing guessing games then you’re going to love trying to figure out how much water is in the single-cup reservoir. There’s no gauge on the single-serve side of town (even though there is one on the carafe side - but you don’t need that because you fill the carafe with the water you need, using the cup markers on the actual pot, and pour it in; redundancy for the carafe and nothing for the pod - the injustice of it all!). In the highly likely event that you overfill the pod reservoir then good luck avoiding electrocution as the excess water pours out of the hole in the back of the machine and all over the power cord that’s plugged into the outlet. I kid you not.6. If you’re out of water then a water drop icon appears on the world’s smallest, darkest display. Backlight, anyone?! Not here. Have fun with THAT!To summarize: brewed coffee yummy. The rest of the many bells and whistles will leave you wishing, as I do, that I had purchased a different machine. Or, for that matter, three machines: one to brew a pot, one to make a cup and a grinder, which would have cost considerably less when purchased separately then the price tag was for The Mega Machine.