Nescafe Dolce Gusto - Melody by Delonghi product reviews

I was lucky enough to attend the recent review event and got to play with some coffee machines. I really liked this one as it was easy to use and I like the shape. I can use the scroll bars easily to make my drink, I like the way the bars counted down by the lights going out so I knew how long before the drink was ready. I think it is great that the pods have the bars printed on the lid so it is easy to know how many bars to select to make a great drink. It has a neat feature of being able to fill the water tank without removing the tank from the machine. I don't think the machine is too big but if you have a small kitchen then this is not the machine for you.

I would recommend this machine to friends as it is really easy to use and having special needs did not stop me from making the drinks myself. I think there is good information on the box but it is not eye catching. I do like this machine but it is not my favourite as the Jovia is but if that one were not available then this would be my choice.

Although this machine was very easy to use and had a plug in the top of the water jug making it easier to refill without having to remove the water tank I found that I really didn't like the look of the machine, it kind of made me think of a turtle, it just is a really funny shape. The box had clear instructions but the water capacity was in very small print and if I had been looking while in a shop trying to compare to other models then this would not be a good thing. It claims to be quiet but when we tried this it was only a minimal amount quieter than the other models we tried.

The scroll bar was a bit different, it lights up so there is no confusion on just how many bars have been selected, not sure what happens when the lights stop working. I like how you can customise the drinks so everyone gets a drink they are happy with. This was the highest priced of the machines we tried and it is very easy to see why such a high price tag.

Personally I prefer the mini me as both have very similar functions and the only thing that is of value that this machine offers over the mini is the ability to fill without removing the water tank so not worth that much extra in my opinion.

While attending a review meet up to trial three Nescafe Dulce Gusto machines I got to test out the Melody. Being the most expensive of the three machines we were reviewing I expected this to be the creme de la creme but to be honest it was only a slight bit better than the other two.

The Melody was larger, 1.3L which is a whole 500ml larger than the other two machines and it had a stainless steel guard which I guess is more durable but the plastic ones of the other two looked pretty hardy to me too. I think the feature that probably makes it worth more (apart from the water capacity) is the scroll wheel which allows you to indicate how much water you want pour. It had a very nice electronic design with bars lighting up to the level required.

The water container on the back of the machine also had a hole on it so that you could fill it up without removing the container from the coffee machine - this was my favourite feature for the Melody.

The only thing I really didn't like about the Melody was the way it looked. I felt it kind of had an alien feel to it and I preferred the sleeker looks of the other two machines. It would be ok on a bench if you had lots of space but if you were space conscious I would have recommended one of the other machines.

The Melody is probably the "cutest" of the three pod machines that I tested; it is almost bird-like in appearance. With a fancy little digital scroller on the top of the machine, this is also the most "high-tech" of the three.

This was an easy machine to use, with a very easy scroll (similar to that of a computer mouse) to alter the water quantities. Visually the display is also the same as what is pictured on the cup, which is good for minimising any confusion. The machine heats up very quickly, and has the largest water reservoir (1.2 litres I believe it was?) so you can fit an extra two drinks per fill compared to the other machines. it also has a lid on top of the reservoir, which allows it to be refilled while still attached to the machine; great for reducing downtime of the machine on those busy mornings.

The handle itself that needs to be lifted to add/remove the pod is rather thin however, and requires a bit of force when moving it. I'd be a bit concerned as to how long it would last, as I could imagine accidentally breaking it one morning if I used too much force. Other than that one concern with the handle, I found the machine ergonomically superior. It was very open, which meant I could fit many different size vessels underneath it, and the visual display and quantity settings make it very easy to use. For better customisation, the hot/cold water buttons can be pressed to stop once started or start when stopped.

If it wasn't for the thin handle, that I fear I would break if using the machine often, this would be my favourite of the pod machines tested.

This was the last of the pod coffee machines that I tried and was easily my favorite, it is in fact the machine that I ended up keeping for my own kitchen. Of the three machines this one had the design that I liked the most, it has a very sci-fi feel to it and being a big sci-fi fan it seemed rather fitting to be in my house, it does though, compared to the other two machines, take up the most bench space as it goes out rather than up and has a 1.3 Litre capacity water tank (which was very hard to find on the box this came in).

A favorite feature of this particular machine is that the water tank has a hole in the top of the machine which allows you to take the lid off, so to speak, and refill it with more water as needed, you don't have to take the whole tank off the back to refill it which is a huge bonus if you forget to check and find it on almost empty as I have done a couple of times. Depending on our coffee strength we've managed to get 7-8 drinks from the machine which will be good when we have friends and family over, especially at birthdays, I can just pop this in the living room and let everyone help themselves to it. This also comes with a container that you place your pods into and they can drain into there, leaving a lot less dripping everywhere and saved mess is always a bonus!

The box for the Melody boasts that it is a very quiet machine but when compared to the Jovia and Mini Me, I would actually put it in the middle sound wise, very easy to tell when someone is making a hot drink but not so loud as to be unbearable or drown the rest of the world out. With this machine we have the bars as lights on the top of the machine with a little wheel for turning the volume of water up and down, easy enough that my seven year old has had a turn helping make a coffee for his granny. I did find that the first drink is tepid at best, but the more that you make, the hotter that it will get for you so starting with the kids drinks works well.

If you want a space saver then this isn't the one for you, but I love the shape and design, especially the refill without removing the tank, option wonderful. I'm loving this machine.

This machine was my second favorite of the three machines when we had the three side by side but since my wife got to keep one of them for ourselves, this was the one that we ended up with so I've had more time playing with this one than I did any of the other machines. This one has the biggest tank capacity of the three at 1.3 litres, so 500mls more than the other two types which is nice when you can make more cups of coffee, hot chocolate etc. each time.

One thing that I really like about this is that I can just open a cap on the top of the water jug and fill it back up to the top without any issues, this also makes things a lot easier as my eldest wants to use the machine and make his own hot chocolates, this way he can just fill up a cup of water and pour it in. You set this as to how many bars worth of water you want which makes it nice and easy to set up and turns itself off. I would be worried about the bar in the long run though and can those lights 'die'...

I really like this machine and love having one, I can now make a nice coffee at home that's almost as good as a cafe with minimal cost.

This is the first machine that we tried at the KIWIreviews Dulche Gusto coffee meet. My first impression was that is was a bit space age like! I thought that it looked quite classy. I have previously had a Nespresso machine and I thought that the Dulche Gusto Melody del did have a rather large footprint and might take up quite a bit of space on my bench. My preference is for such a machine to be a bit taller to allow for the necessary bits and pieces to fit in the machine than to be bigger on the base. There is a 1.3l water container at the back of this machine and I think that it could easily have gone upward than taking up room at the back!

I was the first person to make a drink for the day and I found that the coffee wasn't that hot. I like my drinks that way but I know that it wouldn't be hot enough for my husband. We found as time went on and more drinks were created that the drinks became hotter. If this was my machine, I guess I would make the kids drinks first, followed by mine and then my husbands!

Unlike a Nespress machine, the Melody allows the user to choose between having hot and cold water going through the machine. This allows for drinks to be made for kids at a cooler temperature. I like the fact that you can adjust the drip tray to three different heights so that the coffee doesn't splash.

There is a great range of capsules available for this machine and it is suitable for people who like drinks other than coffee. There are
various coffee, chai, tea and hot chocolate flavours available. The drinks which require milk come with a milk capsule as well. Something to note, however, is that the milk contains both dairy and soy which could be an issue for people with allergies. In such cases, you could buy the plain coffee capsules such as Americano and either drink it black or add your own choice of 'milk'.

Each capsule comes with a number of bars on the top of the capsule and this directly relates to the setting you need to put the machine on. It is really easy to use once you know how the system works. The lights at the front 'countdown' as the water goes through the machine to show you how much watch still needs to pass through. Miss 3 had fun making her own drinks at the event! She only required a bit of support to learn what to do and for safety reasons as well.

This machine has the largest water container of the three models we tried at the coffee meet. It would be idea for a family or for households who have lots of visitors. The water container can be filled by either refilling while the machine is working or you can take it out and fill it from the tap. If the machine runs out of water part the way through making a drink, you can refill the water and the machine just carries on.

I like this machine and the size of the water container would be ideal for my family, however I do prefer the footprint (and price) of the Mini Me model in the same range. Having said this, I would still recommend this model to families because of the water container capacity.

I got to try three Nescafe machines at a recent KIWIreviews event and this was the first that I tried.

On first glance I was not a fan of the look of this machine. This is mainly due to the size and shape of the water container. At 1.3 litres that makes it look a much bigger machine. I have a compact kitchen so was probably thinking about how this would fit into my small kitchen. After trialling this however I could see that having a bigger water reserve who definitely be useful if I was using this machine away from a quick water supply e.g. in my office at work. The water reserve was very easy to fill from the top which also allowed you to top up the water while the machine was working. I very handy thing if you are making a few coffees at a time.

I liked that this machine has an adjustable drip tray to put different sized cups on. It was quite an open design compared to the others which means it would fit a variety of shaped cups. The drip tray was a good size for that little bit of overflow. This had a one metre black cord - which is a good length, however was disappointed that there was no place to store the excess cord. On a small bench with kids around this for me is a safety thing that I would like to be included.

However overflowing the cup (unless you have chosen the wrong size cup) with this machine is not something you have to worry about. By rolling the scrollwheel to the right bar setting the machine decides exactly how much water is to go through the capsule to get the right strength. You are able to change the bar setting to meet your tastes however by doing this I found that the coffee tasted quite bitter. My first drink I made with this machine was the chai latte. It was a 3 bar and I felt that it was not as hot as I would have liked. I wondered if this was the machine heating up as the next drink was on better temp. I did not have the first drink of the day out of this machine so am really unsure why the chai was not as hot.

Overall I think this is a great machine, although the footprint of this machine is a little too big for my kitchen I can see the benefit of how this could be useful in different situations. It is easy to clean and at the price that it is I think this is a reasonable in comparison to the other machines. I also love that the used capsules can be recycled at www.terracycle.co.nz

I tried the Nescafe Dulce Gusto - Melody at a recent KIWIreviews product meet along with two of the other machines in the Dulce Gusto range. The Melody was the first one I tried and probably my favourite. I had never used a pod machine before so to start with there were so many things to remember but if very soon became second nature.

It has a scroll wheel to set how much water you want to flow through the pod. The number of bars was indicated on the pod which made it very easy. It allowed me to continue talking to others while I was making my drink. I didn't have to focus on the machine. The drip tray is a good size and the height of it can be adjusted to suit the different cups you may use.

With a 1.3L water tank it was the largest and most expensive of the three machines. It can make at least five drinks before the tank needs to be refilled. This makes it suitable for most homes and small offices. The down side is that is takes up slightly more bench space than the others. I like the look of the machine. It is almost like a robot. I would be happy for it to be sitting on my kitchen bench.

Although this machine retails at $199 it would be worth looking out for it on special. We don't drink many hot drinks in our household but if we did I would get this. I would happily recommend it to others and the pods available in the Dolce Gusto range cater for everyone's tastes from iced teas to hot chocolate and lattes.

Yeah baby, this is the one for me. AT least, it would be if I was a coffee or tea drinker. However, on the hot chocolate front, it would do very nicely indeed. Great water storage with the advantage of being detachable for refilling, or can be filled in situ almost as easily, it won me over pretty quick. I was pleased by the metal locking lever, the back-lit bar indicators, the 'scrollwheel' style water level selector and the overall impression of a good, solid machine not likely to take a tumble if bumped.

While it still has the three levels to set the base-plate to, none of which are high enough to prevent splash-back when pouring a single espresso into a proper demitasse cup, it still fit all my drinking mugs quite happily... even my monster-mug which still wasn't full after TWO rounds of hot chocolate pods! OK, I had to offer it some manual support because of the vibrations caused by... well, whatever is going on inside the machine that makes it rumble and buzz... but that's to be expected. It's a BIG cup. :)

I think the one factor that really sold me on this unit was the water capacity. At 1.2-1.3 litres, it held the most of the units we tried on the day, and that alone works for me. That said, I still see the benefits in small water storage too - less likely to leave the water sitting for long periods to go stagnant. However, if you are in a household where 2-3 hot drinks twice a day is the norm, then this will work a treat for your needs.

Overall, my hit-pick and the one I would be more likely to consider buying if I had the need to. Certainly the one I will be recommending to anyone I know on the look-out for a good coffee pod machine!

Although I don't own one of these machines, I had a chance to play around with 3 different Dulce Gusto machines the other day and this one was the first we tried. I'm not actually a coffee drinker, so am reviewing these on that basis, but I was very impressed with the line up of non-coffee drinks available.

If you are looking for the top machine in the range, this is the one. The machine takes the Dulce Gusto coffee or tea pods and these are clearly labelled with the number of bars of water they need. You select this easily by scrolling the wheel on the top and watching the bars light up. It really is fool proof as long as you are careful you haven't bumped the scrolling wheel before you then push the hot or cold button which fills your cup with your chosen beverage. If you need a milk pod too (also supplied and also labelled with the number of bars of water needed), then you remove the first pod and put the milk pod in and follow the same procedure.

Water flows from through the machine, heating as it goes, through the pod and into your cup - it really is so simple. One advantage of this model is that there is a good sized (1.3 litre) water capacity so there isn't much refilling to do. However you can refill the water compartment both while it's attached to the machine (and even while being used) or by removing it easily and carrying it to fill under the tap. Another point worth noting is that the platform the cup sits on is adjustable so you can use any sized cup.

I tested a chai pod (with the milk pod) in this machine. I found it wasn't a scorching hot drink but it was perfect for my tastes. One thing I will note is that this drink seemed to come out a bit cooler than on the Mini Me machine that I also tested. As a regular chai drinker, and having tried several brands of instant chai, I found this one particularly nice. It wasn't overly sickly sweet as some can be, and it had a lovely flavour. Of course you wouldn't need to use the milk pod if you didn't want to, or you could even add your own regular milk if you prefer.

This machine is stylish and I have to say it would look great on my bench (and this is coming from someone who doesn't normally like appliances cluttering up my bench space). It is the biggest of the machines, but it's more in the depth measurement as it does not seem to be wider than the other machines. As a non coffee drinker, I would still seriously consider owning one of these machines if my budget allowed as I could not only offer some flash coffees to visitors, but also enjoy the lovely hot chocolates and flavoured teas that it makes. There really is nothing that I can mark this machine down on in my scoring, but please compare to my other reviews of similar machines to see which one might suit your needs best.

The first machine that we tried over the course of our Nescafe Dulce Gusto event in Hamilton was the Melody by Delonghi. This machine was the absolute star of the event in my eyes. While the other machines had their good points, this machine really couldn't do any wrong for me. Firstly, it is such an attractive looking machine. It has a spherical body and the top to the machine as well. it kind of looked a bit like Mickey Mouse to me, as I looked at it down the side. I thought it was quite a modern look and really cute as well.

I could easily picture this machine in my kitchen. My benches are a bit of a clutter, but I could definitely see myself happily squeezing this in, to replace my jug! I liked that the drip tray was nice and big and it was adjustable too. So if I had a smaller cup I could lift it higher and closer to the pod opening. Everything looked really easy to maintain and keep clean.

I loved how easy this machine was to use. You can have hot or cold water, which gives you a lot of options about how you want to have your drinks. I personally like a lot of milk in my coffees because I can't have my drinks too hot. So I liked how I could switch things up, and run cold water through the milk pods if I wanted.

Each pod has a bar rating on it, and on the Melody machine it is so easy to dial up the option you want and make each drink. The bars light up, so you can physically see what you have dialled before you turn it on. The bar lights turn off as a countdown to your drink being ready, and they flash when it is done. This is a good feature, because there is no guesswork needed. Each drink comes away fairly consistent though the first few drinks were a little cooler than the next lot. Still, that didn't bother me in the least as I like a cooler drink as do my children.

The capacity on this machine is 1.3 litres. That means you could easily cater to making drinks for a larger group of people in one fill. The bottle in the back looked to be a lot easier to fill via a tap. I could see it was ticking so many boxes with me. Now I'm on the look out for one of my own!