Cuisinart Plus 12-Cup Programmable Coffee Maker with Hot Water Dispenser - Black Stainless Steel - Perfect for Home, Office & Entertaining

2.0 stars on the water system; 5.0 stars on the coffee maker —Update 3: so, customer service is great; they sent me another coffee maker but the second one also had a malfunctioning hot water maker—so now they are sending me yet another one. At no cost to me since it is still under the warranty, but, I’d rather have the coffee maker only without the water system if it’s not going to work right. Have to lower my star rating because of the water system.Get you a Cuisinart coffee maker but leave off the water system.——-Update 2: I called customer service and they are sending me a new coffee maker! I didn’t expect this but it’s still under warranty—still, pretty awesome! So back to 5stars—if the second one malfunctions, I’ll be back; otherwise, YAY! I will say that the coffee maker part always has worked well—I probably would not purchase a dual one again.Updated Review. While the coffee maker continues to brew great coffee, the hot water side of the unit is terrible. After not even a year of having the machine, and using the hot water side only a few times, it is already malfunctioning. I’ve contacted Cuisinart so we will see but I have to take off at least one star from my 5 star rating. I should take off two!a——-I love Cuisinart coffee makers. And after my recent experience with a Braun Multi-Serve coffee maker (that cost twice as much as this one), I’ll never use another coffee make than Cuisinart. Cuisinart has been consistent for my coffee-making for over 20 years. Why I chose to change is beyond me! Welcome Home Cuisinart! I missed you these 4 long lukewarm coffee, problems-with-Braun long months!This is my first time to try a coffee and hot water combo, but this is perfect for my needs since my microwave broke over a year ago. But, when I want hot water for hot chocolate or a cup of hot tea occasionally, this aspect of my new Cuisinart is super nice!What I like about Cuisinart is that you can set the hot plate thing to your designed temperature, which I always leave on HOT! I like my coffee hot (the Braun always served me sort-of-kind-of-hot coffee that quickly turned lukewarm less than halfway through my cup of coffee! Yuck!). The grind and brew coffee maker I had before didn’t have this feature (though that was a nice coffee maker that lasted at least 10 years), as well, the Braun gave you an hour limited time to drink your coffee before it switched off and then the hot plate was barely hot enough to sustain any leftover coffee.There is the usual timer and clock but I don’t use either one of those. I unplug my coffee maker every morning and just make it fresh when I arise. I grind my own beans with my Capresso grinder (Cuisinart does make a good grinder as well and I do have one of those), and pour the grinder beans into the provided gold filter—I never use the paper ones, though they do give you a few of those along with the gold permanent filter (don’t use both together or your coffee won’t be good!). It is awkward to pour in the water—there is a water indicator on the left side but I don’t use that as I measure my coffee water right in the carafe, but yes, the place you pour the coffee water is a little difficult but I don’t mind it. I’m able to pour in my water without making a mess.I do sometimes wish this one had a ‘bold’ coffee feature like my other Cuisinart but I’m okay without it; I just add extra beans if I want, and my coffee always tastes great either way. The Braun did have a bold coffee feature, but if my coffee is mostly lukewarm, then it’s not going to taste good bold, or not bold.The carafe is well made—the glass feels a little bit more substantial than the Braun. But the biggest feature that makes the Cuisinart carafe better than the Braun is the top to the carafe stays CLOSED when you pour your coffee—the Braun would flip open and if you weren’t careful, your coffee would spill out; as well, the top of the Cuisinart is wider and the Braun was narrow—it was a little more difficult to clean the Braun with that narrow top opening.The hot water feature is nice. Pour in water and you can keep it there for at the ready if you like, or pour in when you are ready for some hot water. You can brew coffee and make hot water at the same time! I like that. I have a friend who likes tea, so I can prepare tea and my coffee together. The water comes out hot enough, as well. There’s a plate to put your cup, or you can remove the plate for something taller. The Braun multi-serve didn’t have this feature—sure, you could brew only one cup of coffee, or use the iced coffee feature, but not while you are brewing regular coffee. And, if you wanted just hot water, forget it, since nothing HOT came out of that machine.This fits on my counter just fine. It’s actually a little smaller than the Braun multi-serve, but a little wider than the regular Cuisinart coffee makers I had before—of course because of the hot water feature.I’m so happy I quickly came back to Cuisinart. It works for my needs; it’s reliable; and my coffee is always good and hot.Completely happy!I consider myself a coffee snob, but I also value convenience and ease-of-use. I love French press, Clover, and other gourmet forms of coffee making, but at home you can't beat a good drip machine. My previous Melitta maker was excellent, but it finally kicked the bucket so the search began for a countertop replacement. I love this Cuisinart CHW-12, and here's why:COFFEE MAKER - This machine does a great job of brewing and that's really what it's all about, right? The CHW-12 uses the #4 cone-type filter which I think brews better than the basket type filters. There is also a reusable gold-tone filter included. I prefer the disposable #4 paper filters (I use the Melitta unbleached) since it's easier to clean up and I just throw the whole filter and grounds in my compost bin. The CHW-12 appears to use the same brewing system as the Cuisinart 1200 series which is highly rated and well-respected. To my pleasant surprise, this Cuisinart brews a pot of coffee just as fast as my old Melitta "Fast Brew" maker. And, the "M" (for Medium) carafe temp setting keeps the coffee at about 180-degrees. That's a tad hotter than most makers, and is noticeably hotter than the Cuisinart 1200. I expected to be using the "H" (Hot) setting, but have not really needed to since "M" is hot enough. Compared to other makers I've used, this Cuisinart has less splash and spill-over in the brewing basket. That means fewer grounds and coffee get splashed out of the basket which makes cleaning up easier. The pause-and-serve feature also works better than most, with fewer drips. The carafe is about average with a good-fitting lid and easy, drip-free pouring. There is a small lip all around the neck of the carafe which means you have to tilt the carafe a bit further to pour - this could be viewed as a "safety feature" depending on how you look at it, and it takes some getting used to.HOT WATER DISPENSER - A great feature for my wife who makes tea, single-cup "manual" coffee, and occasional instant oatmeal. The hot water dispenser heats up very quickly - about 3 minutes from cold, and only about a minute if it has been turned on within that last few hours. That's about twice as fast as a typical stove-top tea kettle and faster than most electric tea kettles. The water dispenses at about 190 degrees and it keeps the water very hot even an hour or so after it's been turned off. There is a light to tell you when the water is hot and ready, and the light stays lit after you turn off the water dispenser to warn you that it's still hot. The dispensing mechanism seems well-designed and doesn't drip at all. The base plate is removable for tall mugs, and can be taken apart for cleaning. You can easily dispense 2-3 mugs full of hot water before having to refill the reservoir. If you refill the reservoir when the "add water" light comes on, then the added water takes less than a minute to heat up. I just get in the habit of adding every time I dispense hot water or every time I turn on the machine. There is no water-level window for the hot water reservoir so you have to go off of the "Max" markings on the filler door. A reservoir window would have been much better. The box and the manual make no mention of how much energy is used to keep the water hot, nor is there any mention of how long you can safely keep it on. I've had it on for days with no ill effect, but I'd recommend just turning it off when you don't need it.MAIN UNIT - Beware, this thing is tall and won't fit under most cabinets. This was almost a deal-breaker, but I found a nice spot for it on my chef's island. The main unit is sturdy and the stainless steel trim looks nice. There is a water-level window for the coffee maker, but (surprisingly) no window for the hot water dispenser. That's too bad, since a window on that side would have been nice. The top water filler doors open up wide for easy pouring but they swing back a bit too, so you may have to pull it away from the wall when filling. There is a "Clean" indicator and Clean mode button for flushing with a water/vinegar solution. I use filtered water exclusively in my machines, so this coffee maker should go for years before needing any kind of flush. Both the coffee maker and the hot water dispenser have built-in water filters so there should be reduced scale and other build-up. The filters are very simple fabric pouches filled with activated charcoal, so my guess is that they are mainly for flavor and not really to guard against scale, minerals, deposits, etc. The unit sits very stable and has rubber feet on the bottom. There is no power cord storage, unfortunately, and the power cord is short - only about 4 feet.CONTROLS - Like most coffee makers these days, the clock is small and hard to read. But the blue backlight is nice and the display is better than many other similar makers, including Cuisinart's 1200. The controls are straightforward and I especially like the main control dial which is very intuitive. The controls are all plastic but they have a good feel to them and are easy to use. You can program the auto-off time (0-4 hours) and you can start the brewing in any mode. There is a 1-4 cup setting which supposedly slows down the brewing process to better extract flavor. I have noticed no difference in the amount of time it takes to brew or the overall carafe temperature using the 1-4 cup setting, so there must be something going on behind the scenes. The blue backlight on the clock looks good, but it's the exact same color as all the other indicator lights so it's not always easy to tell what's going on with a quick glance. For example, you have to pay attention to tell if the hot water is ready (little blue light) or if you're in 1-4 cup mode (virtually identical little blue light). Also, a larger clock window would have greatly improved legibility.OVERALL - Great coffee flavor using the preferred cone-type filters, fast brewing time, hotter than most water temperature (a good thing), adjustable carafe temperature, and the added bonus of a hot water dispenser (that heats up very quickly). And you also get a reusable gold-tone filter. My only gripes are the tall main unit which doesn't fit under cabinets, and the lack of a hot water dispenser reservoir window.UPDATE AFTER 8 MONTHS OF USE: We finally remodeled our kitchen and installed standard-hight wall cabinets (15" from countertop to cabinet bottom). That means this Cuisinart coffeemaker just barely fits under the cabinets - but if fits! The lettering on the on/off buttons is worn but other than that it's still in like-new condition and works perfectly. Oddly enough, the lettering on the on/off button for the hot water dispenser - which we use much less frequently - wore off first. The coffeemaker on/off button - which we use all the time - looks better but is starting to wear off as well. After 8 months of roughly 4-times-a-week coffeemaker use, there is no loss in performance, no noticeable scaling or staining anywhere, and the machine has not lit the "Clean" indicator light yet. Still very pleased overall, although I would suggest to Cuisinart that they improve their button lettering.No cumple lo que indican las especificaciones, mantener encendido el indicador de agua caliente, mientras lo esté, aunque se haya apagado el encendido/apagado; pensé que era cuestión de una mala traducción del manual o impresión y entré al sitio; lamentablemente era lo mismo. Recibí un reemplazo y tampoco funcionó. Amazon me apoyó con rapidez y eficiencia en todo el proceso, lo cual agradezco!Es nuestra segunda cafetera, la primera (mismo modelo) nos duro como 8 años y no dudamos en comprar la misma. Tener agua caliente es muy util! y si la usamos bastante.Muy buen producto, funciona Perfecto, aunque las instrucciones no son muy claras en cuanto al uso de las programaciones.Espere unos meses para poner una reseña, ahora después de usarla diaria me parece que funciona excelente.La mejor que he tenido, es la segunda vez que la adquiero. La primera duró casi 7 años sin problema alguno. La recomiendo ampliamente