I purchased this coffee maker 3 years ago. I had very high hopes for it since it was made by Cuisinart and I already owned another product from them that was very high quality. This product does not live up to their reputation. For the price I paid ($100) and the amount of time I have owned it, it has not proven to be a quality product.

I love the fact that it keeps the coffee steaming hot for hours unless the pot is about 1/4 full in which case it cools down to warm. As others have already mentioned, you must be very careful to line up the lid and the arrow when you are brewing a pot. This isn't difficult just something you need to pay attention to. I use another carafe to fill the water reservoir because it is just easier.

I use the programable feature everyday so that coffee will be ready in the morning. This is great except for when the electricity goes off for 30 seconds to a minute or so. Cuisinart didn't bother to have any kind of battery backup which is typically for 5 to 15 minutes and is found on many other high end coffee makers. This is quite frustrating if you experience electrical fluctuations of very short duration very often. Of course, then you need to reset the programable feature as well as the time. The display window is adequate but the auto program indicator and the pm indicator are so tiny that you need a magnifier to see them. Also, the ink has faded/worn off on the front of the machine for the most part. So if you don't already have it memorized where the on/off/hr/ min/auto program buttons are located it will be difficult to set the time etc.

I don't have any complaints about the brew cycle or the taste of my coffee. I have never experienced an overflow during brewing. I use drip grind coffee and find this works very well in this machine.

While my coffee tastes good and stays hot, I don't think this machine is a good value. It is overpriced, poor quality, and not up to Cusinart's usual high standards.

Let me start saying what's awesome about this coffee maker. There's no burner, so the coffee tastes wonderful till the last drop. The inside is metal and not glass, which means it's easy to clean and you don't have to worry about a glass interior breaking.

Here's the bad. If you use a lot of coffee or finely ground coffee, it doens't drain through fast enough and your counters and floor will wind up full of coffee. I purchased mine in DC and it had problems with esspresso so I don't brew that anymore. I bought it for a relative when I was in CA and for another relative when I was in IN. I feel bad because they have overflow problems worse than I, and they are using grocery store bought Starbucks. One relative sets it in the sink to brew it.

I called Cuisinart to ask them about this problem. I told them the internet has a lot of negative reviews about this coffee maker overflowing. They asked if I was using the plastic filter along with a paper filter....why would I do that? Needless to say it was an aggravating expereince. Cuisinart customer serive is awful!

So, if you use a lot of coffee, I wouldn't recommend this product. Or, buy it from a store so if you do have an overflow problem, you can return it easily.

I have had this coffee maker for over a year. For the first few months it made awesome coffee. The carafe keeps the coffee hot/warm all day which is great. But, unfortunately this coffee maker has a few flaws that takes away all its redeeming qualities.
1)The carafe is impossible to clean. It has a tiny opening up top that we can get only a baby bottle brush in. When I look in through the top, there are stains in there I cannot remove and I am never sure how clean the carafe really is.
2)The lid to the carafe that prevents spilling and coffee backing up is not cleanable. There is a little ball in there that can be removed/clean, but there are little plastic balls in there that are not accessible nor are the cleanable.
3)Because of its lack of clean-ability, over time the quality of the coffee deteriorates.

we find this coffee maker/thermal carafe a very good appliance. the thermal carafe keeps liquids hot for up to 10 hours.

I bought this 5 years ago and it has worked wonderfully everyday since it's purchase. Unfortunately it stopped working after only 5 years. A coffee maker, especially high priced like this one, should last me ten years. I have a Krups that is also used daily and it is 18 years old and was only a fourth of the price. I will only be buying Krups in the future and will pour my coffee in a carafe.