Mr. Coffee 12 Cup Programmable Coffee Maker with Thermal Carafe Option, Chrome

I puchased this coffeemaker right after last Christmas to replace my Cuisinart DCC 1200. My Cuisinart, which was less than a year old, would not pour hot water through the lid anymore. After doing my homework on the internet, I noticed that onsumerreports.org rated this coffeemaker as their "Best Buy". Considering the price on amazon.com, for $39.99, which is less than 2.5 times the price of the Cuisinart, I was encouraged that you could get a quality coffemaker product for under $50.00. When I received the coffeemaker, I ran water through the system to clean and check its use. I noticed that this unit pours hot water from a rotating spout arm that moves out of place over the filter basket. I also noticed that when the lid comes down, that the rotating spout is moved back in place, due to a clever design in the lid. The taste and temperture of the coffee was similar to my Cuisinart. What makes a different in taste is using a metal filter basket in place of a paper filter. The metal filter basket allows for very fine grinds to pour thru, which gives the coffee a richer taste. I purchased the brass filter basket separately for $9.99, which does not come with the coffeemaker. I would recommend that Mr. Coffee include the metal filter basket and charge the extra $9.99 in its price. Another "But" is that the carafe spout drips along its body if you are not careful when pouring the coffee into a cup. See new comment below. A great feature of this coffeemaker is that you can add a thermal 8 cup carafe for $16.46. The coffeemaker has a switch which does not require the hot plate to be on when using the thermal carafe. The coffee stays hot for hours in this carafe. Pouring 12 cups of water into the top was easier than my Cuisinart, which only had a small corner opening to pour into. Considering the price, features and design, I would recommend this product to anyone who enjoys a good cup of coffee and wants to save a few bucks. A Year Later: My wife and I still enjoy this unit with its ease of use, easy cleanup, good tasting coffee, and adjustable features. I did learn over time that if you do not want the spout to drip, just press the cover slightly up with your thumb, so that the coffee does not come into contact with the cover.

Our coffee maker died. We were in a panic as we tried to find a good replacement fast. Then my wife whipped out a copy of Consumer Reports. In it was a review of the Mr. Coffee SHx33GT. The gist of the review was that this coffee maker out performed or equaled the taste and features of coffee makers two to three times the price. So, of course, we ran to the computer and got on Amazon. We were very curious regarding the customer reviews that complained of a 'bad' or 'plastic' smell and taste and the hard to poor carafe. But we put our trust in Consumer Reports and the positive reviews and ordered ours, ($40 free shipping). We got it in less than a week. I am happy to report that either the people that gave negative reviews were wrong, or maybe Mr. Coffee changed something since they bought theirs. I unpacked the coffee maker, ran one cycle of water through it, (no vinegar), and in 5 minutes I was drinking the best coffee I've had for a long while. And I tried to make the carafe drip as I poured it and could not get a drip. In fact with the design of the rim and the shape of the glass, it is way better than our old Mr. Coffee maker which not only dripped but had plastic around the rim that harbored coffee which dripped a muddy looking mess on the counter and floor. We are super happy with this coffee maker and I think the coffee tastes better than any I've had from other drip type makers. It doesn't quite make it to the quality of a percolator, (for those of you that are too young to remember, that is a coffee pot that continually cycles the water turned coffee through the grounds until it is the strength you want), but it's very close. All in all, a great coffee maker in a compact size that is super easy to use which produces great coffee. For $40 I don't see how you can beat that.

Nice product. The control panel is a little more complicated than necessary because of some unusual features, but it is intuitive and although I shouldn't say this, you really don't need the manual, So, here are the pros and cons: PROs - 12 cups - Nice, but make sure you purchase the larger size filters. The smaller 4 cup filters just won't work very well. - Two hour shut off - a must for a coffee make that is designed to keep the java warm for a while. If you forget it, the coffee might not taste very good as the water evaporates, but it won't stay on long enough to crack the carafe or cause a fire. - Brew strength options - I haven't tried this yet and have always just used a little more coffee to make it stronger, but this feature could save you some money over the long haul - very long haul. - Programmable for a timed start - essential for those of us who like to wake up to the aroma of brewing coffee. CONs - This model comes with a water filter that fits on top of the grinds basket and filters the minerals coming in from the "showerhead spout." The manual recommends that the filter be changed monthly. I have never had a problem with hard water, although I use a water filter on the kitchen sink. Unless you have really foul water, and then again this might not help, I suggest that this is a totally frivolous feature that is designed to get you to trot out to the store and buy more filter replacements since it is recommended that the filter be changed every 30 brews or monthly.. Fortunately, the coffee maker does not require this. You can make the coffee without using this filter. - The unit also has a built in sensor that determines whether you are using a glass carafe (provided) or a thermal carafe. I imagine that the metal skin of the thermal carafe triggers a magnetic switch which prevents the warming tray from going on. I actually bought this unit because I was unhappy with the Mr. Coffee thermal carafe unit I had been using, since it was more difficult to clean than the glass, and the coffee was never really hot enough. All in all, it's a nice coffee maker, but I think these extra features have to add something to the price. I can't help but wonder how much less it would have cost without the water filter and the carafe sensor. Since both of these features are optional, I was tempted to give the unit FIVE stars, but I feel a little annoyed that the manufacturer is trying to put something over on us. Just my opinion. As John Galt says, "Value for value." If the price is acceptable to you, then it's FIVE stars. Get the bagels and coffee cake ready. Breakfast is served.

All right, here’s the thing: my wife and I live in a lakeside cottage that we love . . . but . . . it’s so small that when something new comes in like, for example, our new Mr. Coffee BVMC-SJX33GT 12-Cup Programmable Coffeemaker, Chrome, something has to go out. Where it goes to initially at least is the storage shed behind our home. Over time, that storage shed fills up and things have to go out of it. Where they go is to the dumpster. The latest thing relocated to the storage shed is our old Hamilton Beach coffee maker. We named it Mr. Grumpy because it made so much noise it frightened guests, little children, and birds and animals. You’ve already guessed that Mr. Grumpy will be relocated to the dumpster soon. Truth be told, I never trusted that Hamilton Beach. The first time I cranked it up, it began growling away and promptly spewed the coffee grounds, coffee water, everything, all over the kitchen counter, walls, and floor. From then till the very day it was relocated, I would do a head-jerk toward it midway through the brewing cycle to see if it was behaving itself. Now the Mr. Coffee BVMC-SJX33GT 12-Cup Programmable Coffeemaker, Chrome, on the other hand, doesn’t growl. It’s so nice and quiet, I hardly know it’s on. A soft little sound alerts me when the brewing cycle is complete. The coffee grounds and water stay right where they should. And get this – the glass decanter doesn’t spill water when you fill up the water reservoir or when you pour coffee into a cup. Nice! There’s a water filtration system that requires the purchase of filtration filters. We’ve tried coffee with and without the system and can’t taste the difference. Two hours after the brewing cycle the unit automatically shuts off. No worries there. Like all gadgets now it has a clock. You can delay the brewing if you want to. You can select the brewing strength; regular or strong. Plus, Mr. Coffee BVMC-SJX33GT 12-Cup Programmable Coffeemaker, Chrome, is actually attractive. All of that for less than forty bucks. Very nice!! It will probably be a long time before the Mr. Coffee BVMC-SJX33GT 12-Cup Programmable Coffeemaker, Chrome, is relocated to the storage shed.

Good coffeemaker. BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE! The coffeemaker itself does exactly what's advertised. That is, ours did so until it stopped brewing one day. Just up and died at the ripe old age of 8 months. Which is fine, sometimes things break, that's why there is a warranty. And that's where I ran into difficulty. I very clearly said the words, "I am calling for warranty service" when the agent came on the line. I explained that the coffeemaker wasn't brewing coffee. I was asked to look at the prongs on the power cord - the ones that go into the wall and get scratched up as the unit gets plugged in and unplugged, if it does, and ours does - and then read the letters on the prongs to the agent in order to make sure we're still in warranty. Well, the letters on the prongs were all scratched up, and what I was reading wasn't what the agent wanted to hear. This is getting dumb already. I got put on hold for several minutes as punishment for not providing the right letters. So we finally managed to get past that point and agree that I was in fact covered under warranty because I'd only bought the thing 8 months before. I was then informed that they would register my warranty but only give me 4 more months of protection. Well, obviously...I only expected 4 more months as I had had the thing for 8 months thus far and I knew when I bought it that the warranty period was 12 months. Why are they telling me this? I asked why I was being told this, and I was informed that I had called to register the warranty. No. No, that is not what I said. The exact words I said were, "I am calling for warranty service" and I also said the coffemaker wasn't brewing. At this point the agent wanted to argue with me, saying that they "document all calls" and the notes they had written thus far said that I had said I was "calling to register a warranty." Oh, my goodness. Now I am getting impatient. *So* not what I said. This person isn't even listening. This is getting ludicrous. I never said the word "register," I never call to register warranties. It's not necessary. I just keep the receipt and if I need service within the warranty period, *then* I call and I'm ready to show proof of when I bought the item. ANYWAY...so then I got put on hold for several more minutes as punishment, again. So we manage to get past THAT, because I indicated that even if I *had* said I was calling to register the warranty - which was NOT what I said - either way the coffeemaker is not brewing coffee. Not a drop. We clean it every month with vinegar like we are supposed to, and I need it fixed or a replacement or whatever it is we do in this situation. I got put on hold again for several minutes, as punishment. I use this time to contemplate my sins. FINALLY the agent takes my address and informs me a new machine is on its way and I can throw away the old one. What should have taken five minutes took over half an hour. The only reason I even want another of the same machine is because I bought extra water filtration discs and I have no way to know what else they might fit. My next coffee maker will be a d@mn Black and Decker. I had no idea they even made kitchen stuff, until I went shopping for a hand mixer one day and I found a Black and Decker hand mixer. Its all black and chrome and shiny and it lives in a MANLY black case and it does an awesome job and ithas lasted for years. And it's MANLY. Black and Decker from now on. Mark my words. MANLY (after all this, I need to check my blood presssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

For the past 4 years, we've used a Cuisinart DCC-1200 that has been okay, as long as I would dismantle it (twice) to adjust the contacts on the on/off switch. The unit would turn off during a brew cycle due to a faulty switch connection. We decided to pass on getting a replacement unit and settled on this Mr Coffee model, mostly based on the high rating in Consumers Reports. After reading some of the reviews here on Amazon, I wondered if it would be a wise decision, as no one wants their coffee leaking from the decanter onto the floor or counter top or smelling like burnt plastic. Those who complained about the leaking problem are either putting out a scam review, or they have a different model than the one we received. I tested the glass decanter, and there was NO WAY I could get it to drip over the side. It poured directly into the cup with no dribbling. I tried pouring it very slowly and could not get it to run down the side of the decanter. One reviewer said she had to 'lift the cheap plastic lid' in order to pour the coffee. Well, I don't know where that bit of info came from, but the lid is not cheap plastic, and you don't have to lift it at all.....hmmmm. We ordered the optional thermal decanter and it is very solid. It has an 8 cup capacity and has no pouring issues either. The coffee quality is as good as your water and coffee can provide. It brews quickly and gives you a hot cup of coffee, at the right temperature. I did not detect any off-tastes due to plastic. I did smell a bit of plastic during the first brewing, but this is normal for new appliances that are heated. The plastic is 'off-gassing' some of the volatiles and this should subside after a few uses. The unit is very well-designed and looks great on our counter. It is actually shorter than the Cuisinart model and that is a plus for us. The controls are great and easy to use. Setting the clock is intuitive, and programming it for a delayed brew is very easy. It is also a 'smart' unit, in that it senses when you are using the thermal decanter, and automatically turns off the hot plate under the decanter. It also has a button that lets you see how long it has been since the coffee was brewed. As far as I can tell, it will heat the glass decanter for 2 hours, before it beeps 3 times, then shuts off. With the metal decanter, the unit shuts off immediately after brewing (no lights are on). The LCD showing the time is easy to read, but you need to bend over to see it. The instruction manual says there is a red light that will light when it's time to clean the unit, but I can't find this light anywhere. The unit is easy to fill and the water level can be seen easily in the gauge on the right rear. If you need a cup of coffee before it is finished brewing, you can pull the decanter away, and it gives you 30 seconds to pour a cup, then replace the decanter. I detected no leakage of coffee when I did this (contrary to what some other reviewers have claimed). Make sure you have some basket-type coffee filters (not cones), or have ordered the optional permanent filter basket, since these are not provided with the unit. The unit also has a water filter and holder that fits over the basket and under the water 'shower head'. I'm not sure this is a good design for the filter, since it is another item you need to install before every pot, then clean afterwards. The Cuisinart had a drop-in water filter, that worked before the water entered the brewer. I like this better. We don't use any filters since we use filtered water from the fridge. All-in-all, this is a great coffee maker at a very decent price. The option to get a thermal decanter for it is a big plus for us, as we will be pouring less coffee down the drain in the future. I expect to get many good pots of coffee from this coffeemaker. If I find otherwise, I will update this review.

Our old reliable and inexpensive Mr. Coffee maker had served us well for almost 12 years, but finally the plastic started to show it's age and could no longer resist the daily abuse. The result was the carafe handle and the one of the filter pegs recently breaking. The coffee maker still worked great but clearly it was time for a new one... Let me preface this review by saying that I had two very important criteria when I was looking for a new coffeemaker: 1. Must have a thermal carafe. (wife wanted it) 2. Must use basket filters. (I still have several hundred of them, bought in bulk long ago, so I want to use them!) Price was also a criteria, of course, but I was open to spending over $100 if necessary to get a good one. I have a soft spot for Mr. Coffee based on the long and reliable life of our old one, but I looked at all the brands with models matching the above two criteria. Those two criteria really managed to limit the number of models I had to consider and I didn't see any real outstanding reviews on any of them, even the ones priced over $100. Then I stumbled upon this little gem. The reviews were good, it uses basket filters, and provides the option of buying a thermal carafe. The price is so low that even with the extra bucks to buy the thermal carafe it was still cheaper than pretty much all of the other models I had looked at. Plus it is Mr. Coffee, which has served us so well for so many years. Sold. So, with the story of how I came to purchase it out of the way I can get on to the heart of the review... First off the coffee maker looks great; sleek and compact. It actually takes up less space than the old Mr. Coffee model that it replaced. The instructions are very straightforward and it is very simple to operate. It doesn't have a lot of fancy settings or other complications. It includes a water filter but since we already filter our water I opted not to use it. Before using you are advised to run it through a brew cycle with just water to get rid of any manufacturing residues. You can definitely pick up some chemical smells right out of the box so I opted to run a couple of brew cycles just to be safe. After two cycles it was ready to make coffee. Making coffee is a snap. The filter basket lifts out easily - you just rotate the spray arm out of the way and lift out. This makes it easy to add the ground coffee and to clean up afterwards. After you have the filter basket loaded up with ground coffee you just put it back in and rotate the spray arm back into place. You add the water into the reservoir through the same opening in the top and there is plenty of room to pour. The cup markings are on the right side of the machine and may be a little difficult to see in low light, but I haven't had any trouble. If you measure your water before adding it then it won't matter in any case. Once you have added the water you just press one button to start brewing. If you want to change the brew strength you press one more. The machine will beep when it is done. Easy. The unit automatically senses whether you are using the glass or thermal carafe. The heating element turns on only for the glass carafe since the whole idea of the thermal carafe is to keep the coffee warm without continually heating it. We typically use the glass carafe when we are going to drink up the coffee quickly and the thermal when we have more time and want to drink coffee at our leisure. The thermal carafe easily keeps the coffee warm enough for us for a couple of hours. The instructions advise pre-heating the carafe with hot water to help maintain the temperature but we usually don't bother. This machine brews great tasting coffee quickly and easily. If that is what you want in a coffeemaker then I highly recommend it. If you want lots of fancy settings to fiddle around with then it isn't for you. The clock on the machine is not illuminated so you can't see it at night. If you really want/need an illuminated clock then you will want to find another model. This coffeemaker suits our needs perfectly and the price can't be beat. The optional thermal carafe is great for keeping coffee warm without cooking it - perfect for extended coffee drinking sessions.

I went back and forth over whether to give this two or three stars. Ultimately decided on three, because it does make coffee at an adequate temperature (even if only barely so) without any huge pains in the neck...and because it is (or should be) commonly understood that a dirt cheap price often comes at the trade-off of quality or other form of consumer satisfaction. This is no exception. Here are the problems I have experienced: 1. The "strong brew" function flat-out Does Not Work. It worked for a couple of months and then dropped dead. If I select the strong brew feature, the pot beeps (as though finished) about 10 second into the cycle and then continues under normal brew mode. This appears to be a very common complaint, and Mr. Coffee is displaying no desire to fix it. The response, after you filter out all the fluff and read between the lines, is: "Noted...so just don't use that feature." 2. As mentioned above, the water heating is only barely sufficient. Consumer Reports recently dropped this coffee maker from its "Recommended" list because of this, and I agree with that decision. The cup stays plenty warm if you sip it all down immediately (I don't know anyone who does this), but not after 15 minutes in a normal mug. 3. The carafe itself (I have the glass one) spills if you pour too quickly. This typically isn't a problem while pouring brewed coffee (as I am not dumping it quickly then), but often when I use the clean carafe to pour fresh water into the back of the coffee maker, it spills out (and in excessive quantity, not just a few drops) onto the counter next to the coffee maker. I can hear your reflexive response..."Just pour more slowly"...and I do, but this is still cheap, bush league stuff. This is the 21st century...we have the technology available to make carafes that don't spill. Otherwise, it's fine. "Good enough" anyway. The programmable time brew function (what is called the "delay" feature) works well and has never let me down. Some people have complained that the filter basket does not seat properly when the carafe is inserted, but that's baloney...it's designed that way on purpose. There has to be weight in the filter basket to compress the spring, and the water that fills it provides more than enough weight to do so. It may even be designed that way to keep the water in the filter longer and thus extract more coffee from the grounds (then again, the unimpressive water heating & non-functioning strong brew feature certainly counterbalance this design). It may look weird, but this part (at least in isolation) works just fine. Enough rambling already. If you buy this, do so because you're on a budget and you don't mind coffee that cools off quickly after it is poured and isn't particularly strong. Me personally, I like my coffee hot and strong, so I will be replacing this thing some time soon.