I bought this coffee machine just after Christmas (sadly it wasn't on sale!). I was looking for a small coffee maker that would make both espresso and cappuccino. I also wanted a it to look nice because I could see the novelty of the machine wearing off and I didn't want something ugly cluttering up the work surface in the kitchen. I went to John Lewis and looked at several coffe machines before settling on the Magimix L'Expresso which seemed to do everything I wanted.

The Magimix was slightly cheaper than others in the same class (it cost £129), but also had slightly more features. It is more powerful than, for example, a comparable Gaggia. It uses 1260 watts and operates at a pressure of 19 bar. It holds 1.8 litres of water which is enough for several cups of coffee. There is a gauge on the front of the machine so you can always see how much water is left. The water reservoir also has a built in Brita filter, although I don't use this because I have a filter on my kitchen tap.

The Magimix can take either ground coffee or coffee pods. It is easy to put the coffee into the machine - you just fill the holder and screw it back onto the machine. If you are using ground coffee there is a coffee compactor that you squash the coffee against first. The water heats up quickly - you can get a cup of coffee in about 30 seconds. The water isn't automatically measured, you just hold the dial for as long as you want. There is a drip tray in case the cup overflows.

If you are having cappuccino, there is a milk frother as well. It does great froth, but the only downside is that it is a bit fiddly to clean. You can also use the frothing nozzle to just deliver hot water, for example if you want to make tea or an Americano.

Other useful things on the machine are a storage compartment to keep spoons and things in, and a cup warming plate on the top of the machine (this is heated up as the boiler gets hot, you can't turn it on separately).

You can set the nozzle to dispense the coffee into one or two cups. You will need to buy small coffee cups though, as normal mugs won't fit under the spout because they are too tall.

All in all, I'm glad I bought the machine. It does everything it says, and it has been used a lot more than I thought it would. So far it has been reliable too.