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689 of 708 people found the following review helpful.
WOW, I love the VUE...it is new, is it right for you?
By Joanna Daneman
The VUE is a totally different unit than current K-Cup Keurigs. I'm comparing it to the OfficePro that we use at work. The VUE is newer, sleeker, has more choices for brewing, and it's very attractive in design (if a bit larger.) It is definitely versatile. However, there are a number of differences between the VUE and the older Keurig models and these are SO SIGNIFICANT, you should read up before you decide which model you want. For one thing, VUE cups are NOT K cups. That's right. This coffee maker uses a different type of single-serve unit.I will say, this is a beautifully-designed unit--very high end in appearance. The touch screen is incredibly easy to use and allows you to customize your brew more than on the standard K cup models. The temperature IS hotter, perfect for drinking. The brew is a bit better--I was able to make a "donut shop" brew at 6 oz and strong, which tastes terrific. The unit apparently pre-wets the grounds (which is why it grunts like a guy lifting 100 pound Olympic plates) and why it takes longer to brew.**Another update--Jan 2013: I'm finding that the variety and availability of the Vue cups (which are NOT K-cups) is still limited and they are often sold out at big box stores. The price continues higher than for K cups. Solofill now has a Vue refillable cup available at Kohls. Consider that as you read this review.FINDINGS:1. First and FOREMOST: The VUE does not take standard K-CUPS. Oh yes, that's right. You need a totally different sized single pack to use this machine. So if you buy your own supplies for home AND office, it would be best if you have the same models at both locales. ( There is at present, no refillable VUE cup, but I assume someone will craft one sooner or later.I ran test brews using Barista Cappuccino variety, a 2-part cup system that makes cappuccino with milky froth, not a clone of International Coffees instant in a single-pack as in the current K-cups. I also ran a test of "Donut Shop", "Gloria Jean's Hazelnut", Celestial Seasoning's Southern Iced Tea, and Green Mountain Nantucket Blend Iced (brewing both over ice as directed.)2. You have to be able to buy VUE cups where you buy coffee. Our grocery store has no VUE cups. The selection, from what I can tell surfing around, is not as diverse as for K-cups.3. READ THIS>>>>>>> The unit is billed as being capable of filling insulated tall travel mugs. BUT...I have several travel mugs, mostly tall steel insulated models. NOT ONE of them fits under the unit EVEN WITH THE BASE REMOVED (you pull the entire black and silver plastic base forward, It comes off easily) . The tallest mug I could get under the unit was a fatter mug that holds 18 oz. If you have a collection of those stainless steel mugs that are often business gifts or sold at coffee stores, yours might not fit under the Vue. So to fill your fave travel mug, you need to measure it under the Vue without the platform to see if it will fit. NOT ALL MUGS WILL FIT. MANY DO. MANY DO NOT.4. Says "brews hotter." Have not observed any hotter than 184 degrees, a good brewing and drinking temperature but by no means the hottest. Anyway, you can't expect boiling water to issue forth from such a device. My pump hot water dispenser delivers hotter water, but it simply pumps boiled water out of a steel boiler, it doesn't have to push it through a filter and past a lot of plumbing and plastic.5. VUE cups may be hard to find at the moment at your stores, and they are not as inexpensive as the K-cups have become.6. The drain platform is a bit clunky. You have to make sure you push your mug all the way back as far as you can, or it drips behind the mug. The mug rest, a black plastic insert that fits inside the mug platform, has a slight lip around it and if you are not paying attention, you can miss pushing the mug far enough back. To use a travel mug, assuming it will fit, the entire bottom has to come off. (Pull it off.) Most of my steel insulated mugs still didn't fit, however. 18 oz seems to be tops. If the mug is tall to make a slimmer part to fit your automobile drink holder, it may not fit, 18 or 20 oz. You have to test it out. Buying the VUE? Take your fave mug along to test out at the store.7. It takes about twice as long to brew and it's noisier than the OfficePro model (similar to a B60 model.) Maybe that results in better coffee (more time to hit the grounds) but you won't be grabbing a cup and running. Took me about 2 minutes.8. There is some good news: one of the criticisms of the wildly popular Keurig is that it makes more landfill waste. This is true. K-cups are the least ecological of all the single-serve coffee methods, yet K-cups took over the market by storm. This is because the coffee was better (Green Mountain) and because the sealed cup is delightful to use (not messy on the hands) and seals in the fresh taste. No wonder it took the number one spot. But the K-cups apparently can not easily be made recyclable, so I am assuming that Keurig developed the VUE to make a more "green" disposable.But to recycle the VUE cup, you need to pull out the papery insert filled with wet coffee and throw it and the foil away separately from the recyclable plastic cup. So, back to messy tasks and this is not as easy as a toss into the trash. You need two trash containers (garbage and recycle) and you have to do some peeling away --which I find a fiddly task indeed. How many people are actually going to bother to do this recycling?9. The touch screen is beautiful, it is my favorite thing on the unit, though I find the icons very small. Still, it's easy to use and I love its looks and it says "ENJOY!" at the end of the brew cycle. Very slick.10. The operation is fine, though I think it is a heck of a lot noisier and slower than my OfficePro.ISSUES and CONSIDERATIONS1. What will happen to K-Cups? Do we have a dual "razor blade" world with two types of cups for sale on the shelves?2. What were the designers drinking when they made too little clearance under the brewing spout to hold standard travel mugs?3. If the new K-cups are designed to be recyclable, then must they have to have an insert for the coffee, and why then extra step is involved to recycle used cups? I presume, this is the best the designers could do....or....is it that K-cups are going off patent this year. Is the consumer going to embrace this? And will there be a self-filling VUE cup? Because many of use like those for home use.4. This unit is billed as being deluxe, high-end, a "better" Keurig. But...is it really THAT much better, aside from recyclable cups, which I admit is good thing, despite the fiddliness of the procedure. But because this is not an inexpensive unit, and it uses new cups less widely available and with a smaller selection of coffees, is this really high-end or is it just high-price?5. Predictable, after the Keurig took first place in the single-shot coffee world, landfills reported a deluge of the little white cups. It's well that Keurig made a "greener" cup but the way you recycle it is not simple and I fear that many people will just toss these in the trash rather than pull apart a used coffee pod, so will it really result in fewer cups in the landfill?5. One more small issue: you may have trouble seeing tiny icons and numbers--even with reading glasses. The touch screen display displays very small print and is a tad annoying (but I am tall and wear bifocals, so you see the issue. I'm looking down from my 6 foot height onto the counter. You may not have any trouble seeing the display.)CONCLUSIONS:PROS:YES, HOTTER COFFEE, IF YOU WANT, AT JUST THE RIGHT DRINKING TEMP.A MUCH BETTER BREW, GROUNDS ARE PRE-WETTEDCAN ADJUST FROM 4-18 OZ AND CHOOSE STRENGTHTEMPERATURE CHOICESTOUCH SCREEN IS SLICK AND EASY TO USEGORGEOUS UNIT--VERY HIGH END APPEARANCECAN DO TRAVEL MUGS IF YOU TAKE OUT ALL THE BASE PART AND ONLY GO UP TO 18 OZ (TEST YOUR MUG)CONS:NOISIERSLOWERMORE EXPENSIVE, CUPS ARE MORE EXPENSIVE TOOLIMITED SELECTION OF COFFEE (FOR NOW)LIMITED AVAILABILITY CUPS, DIFFERENT CUP than STANDARDNO SELF-FILL CUP AVAILABLENEED TO FIDDLE WITH VUE CUP TO RECYCLE ITDOESN'T HOLD SOME TRAVEL MUGS (despite saying it does) YOURS MAY NOT FIT*UPDATE: After a full weekend of putting this beast through its paces, I have to say, it's fantastic. I did all kinds of brewing, comparing it to my office Keurig and it is undeniably slick, fun to use and flexible. I love the lighted reservoir that lets you know that the tank needs filling (this happens at 1/4 full) and I love the touch screen and the ability to customize volume, strength and temperature for brewing. Only the cost of the cups has me concerned, and the lack of a self-fill cup.*UPDATE 2: When you purchase Vue Cups, BE CAREFUL. Some of the cocoa, teas, coffee-milk drinks have both sugar AND artificial sweeteners. If you avoid sucralose or other artificial sweeteners, then you have to read the entire ingredients of the Vue Cup very carefully. Some have stevia, which I don't mind as much, but I do not like a mix of sugar and non-sugar. I think it's deceptive. You may think "sugar" ok, no artificial sweetener, but it CAN be in there as well, to add more sweetness with lower volume of powder in the cup. OR to reduce the overall calorie count of a single serving to look less fattening. Be careful!
127 of 137 people found the following review helpful.
A Story of the Old (Keurig) Vs the New (Vue)
By Laura Freed
I had my trusty Keurig B60 for 5 years. Never had a problem - though I'd heard it didn't work so well for other people. I generally drink 1 cup of coffee in the morning, though during winter I might have 2-3 throughout the day. I love STRONG coffee and so, when Keurig first hit the market, there weren't many choices, though now, there are PLENTY.Anyway, after 5 years (I used filtered tap water)of a wonderful relationship, my Keurig started to say DESCALE every few weeks. Before this happened, I would usually descale twice a year, and don't recall it ever telling me to until January of 2012. Suddenly, also, it wouldn't brew and was just really acting up. I was going to try and baby my old Keurig and squeeze every bit of life out of it but then...I had no idea the VUE even existed until someone mentioned it on a social media site. I had just received a 20% coupon from a store that sells stuff for the bed, bath and other rooms, and since it was selling for less there and I had a coupon, I decided to take the plunge even after reading the negative reviews here.So. Glad. I. Did.First things first: Flavor seems much better - not that the old Keurig brewed bad coffee- but this just seems...fresher? Also, as I mentioned, I love strong coffee. While there are now many K-Cups on the market that are really bold, finding flavored bold coffee was zilch. And I love flavored coffee every now and then. When I purchased the VUE it came with a sample of V-cups and there was a Gloria Jeans Hazlenut (medium roast), so I tried it and pressed the Strong button. It was perfect. I have to admit, I was a little skeptical that it could actually brew stronger, but it did!!! Then I tried a Breakfast Blend (light roast) Green Mountain travel mug, used Strong, and used the 12 oz button, and was very pleased! Now, they say for the larger sizes (12-14-18) you should but a "travel mug" coffee. I haven't tried using a regular V-cup with a higher oz cup, so I don't know if it would taste okay or not, but for me - this is such a fabulous feature (the Strong button) because now I can drink flavor coffee and it's more robust using the strong button.I have turned up the temp to the max it will go (love a HOT cup of coffee). My first cup was not so hot - but after that initial cup, the rest of the time, it is piping hot! I say this because I don't want anyone to panic after brewing their first cup (like I did!).I love the touchscreen. And after it's done brewing it reads "Enjoy!" - I know this is silly, but I feel like it's "talking to me" and I smile at it every time. Just a simple silly little thing, but I love simple silly little things!I haven't tried the cocoa or the tea or the ice coffee/tea so I can't comment on that. I never used the cocoa k-cups with my old Keurig and probably won't with this.I don't know if the Amazon Vue comes with a variety pack like the one that was included in the one I bought at the store, but I would **think** it would - the variety pack I had included one of: Green Mountain Nantucket Blend, Breakfast Blend travel mug, Tullys French Roast, Barista Prima French Roast, Cafe Escapes cocoa, Timothy's Decafe Colombian, Gloria Jeans Hazlenut, Coffee People Donut House, Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime tea and Southern Sweet Perfect Iced Tea.I also love the design. I keep my Keurig on the counter in the kitchen. It sits under cabinets and anytime I wanted to add water or put in a K-cup, I would need to pull it out because it was so tall. The Vue is shorter and I don't need to pull it out at all when putting in a V-cup or filling the water. Also, to fill the reservoir, you can take off the whole top OR lift part of it (Keeping it on) and pouring in your water.OH! Also, you can raise the platform so if you're using a small cup, it won't spatter - a vast improvement from my old Keurig.This is the first day I've used it, so, if I have any problems or anything changes, I will update. If I don't update, I'm still really happy!!!!!!Also note, I'm really careful with my money. Mostly all of my clothes shopping is done at a consignment store, I drive a used car, etc...that's also one of the reasons I wanted to baby the old Keurig as long as possible...however, since I am a huge Keurig fan and rarely splurge on anything else...LOL, I decided with the coupon and price at the store (was selling for the price listed on the Keurig online store)to just go for it. Well worth it, in my opinion.
72 of 76 people found the following review helpful.
Overall a nice machine.
By Thomas Born
I got the Vue about 1 week ago from BB&B for $199 (look for the 20% off coupon) and I love the machine. The noise described by some reviewers isn't an issue to me since my old coffee pot was just as loud and it is only on for at most 45 seconds when you brew. I feel like the touchscreen is easy to use and mine worked just fine the first try. The Vue cups are nice because you can get strong coffee in an 18 oz travel mug. I do wish it was 2-4 inches taller to fit some taller cups but that isn't going to make me give it 1 star; I use a 32 oz 'Bucee's Cup' and it fit fine but my tumblers are too tall.I read some folks complaining about the temperatures being reported as 'well under advertised' which caused me to break out my Thermapen to check mine. Mine was coming out around 184-186 with the brewer running directly where it comes out. I have mine set to 190 degrees so that is pretty close; some heat will dissipate in the Vue cup as it brews so I have no reason to believe it is that far off. At 174 in the cup after it finished even that will burn the skin off of your lips so it is plenty hot for me.I do wish someone would hurry up and release a refillable Vue cup so we can use our own grounds and cut back on the cost of buying the Vue packs but I am sure someone will get one out soon.I didn't give it 5 stars because of 1 bug I am experiencing with the water tank. Mine will brew down to 1/4 left in the tank then stop brewing until more water is added (it prompts you on the screen). Yesterday it had 1/2 a tank left and did it again; I refilled it but it didn't detect it until I power cycled the machine. I will call Keurig to report it and see what they say about it; it might be something I did or it might just be a sensor.
See all 146 customer reviews...
not as good as it used to be
Disappointing, but what do you expect for the price?
