Cuisinart DCC-1200 12-Cup Coffee Maker

Pros: Good looks, great tasting coffee.
Cons: Somewhat Pricey.

After reading both the good & the bad reviews on this coffee maker, I decided to buy it. This was a little over 4 months ago and so far, I really like it. I bought the unit mainly for the looks. I like that it has a built-in water filter and a gold-mesh reusable coffee filter. Usually I brew between 4-6 cups at a time. There is a "1-4 cups" button that I press when I make small amounts and it causes the water to heat up to a higher temperature. I've always had hot, great tasting coffee from this unit. Also, the "Carafe Temperature" selector knob is a nice feature giving you the choice of low, medium or high. When I add water to the unit, I do it from my kitchen sink's spray hose because it works so much better than trying to fill it with the carafe. There are convenient fill marks inside the water reservoir so filling it with the sink hose is a breeze. Overall, a GREAT UNIT.

Pros: Looks nice.
Cons: Weak coffee, low capacity, clogs easily, messy

I may sound like the old crank from down the street, but here goes: "Back in the old days we paid 20 bucks for a Mr. Coffee that would last 20 years!" My Cuisinart worked reasonably well for a year, but (despite regular de-scaling) it is now hopelessly clogged somewhere: it takes 20 minutes to brew an 8 cup pot, and I only get 4 cups ('cause the rest evaporates), and the 'Self Clean' light is perpetually on. Customer service? Warranty? Good luck - I got no response from e-mail or phone.

Update: after finally getting thru to Cuisinart customer service, and after deflecting all attempts to blame the breakdown on me ("Did you change the water filter?" Yes!), I was instructed to ship my defective unit back to a service center. Within 2 days, a brand new replacement had been delivered. BUT, we now use a French press: I know the Brew Central can't hack regular use...

Pros: Easy to use; makes a good cup of coffee
Cons: 1 standard coffee scoop (1/8 cup) for every two cups of coffee is the best.

After doing some research and reading the reviews here, we purchased the Cuisinart 12-Cup DCC-1200. We have not been disappointed. It has all the features we wanted and the coffee it produces is excellent. We have tried lots of different coffees and it consistently makes a good cup. We shopped around and although it lists for $99.99 we found it for $69.99. It's definitely worth it!

Pros: Makes a fine cup of coffee, good looking
Cons: Had to trash it after a few years because it won't turn on anymore

I had no complaints at all about this cofeemaker until, after probably three years, it stopped turning on, and we now have to trash it.  It did also do the turning off/turning on thing that a few other people mentioned.  I didn't think anything of that at the time.  You'd think that a topline coffee maker like this one would not have to be replaced so soon.  What a bummer.

That said, I might go out and buy the same one since I don't know of a better one out there

Pros: Makes great coffee, programs easily, like using the cone type filters
Cons: None whatsoever

After going through 2 Black & Decker coffeemakers the past year that were bummers, this coffeemaker is like a breath of fresh air. We have absolutely no complaints about this coffeemaker!

Pros: Beautiful design. Very good coffee. Easy to use and program. Carafe doesn't drip at all!
Cons: None

After 3 pots, I'm impressed.

The design is great, it's VERY easy to use. Programming it to make coffee for morning very simple.

Not sure why there are complaints here about coffee not being strong enough. I drink Starbucks house blend and it's just as strong as the Krups that died on me. I typically drink mine VERY strong. It could be that I use a metal filter. I just took the old one permanent one from my Krups and it works fine - just a hair big but it doesn't matter.

The place you pour water in the top is a little bit small but certainly not a problem. Since I use the carafe to fill it up anyway, having the # of cups guide on the inside doesn't matter either.

I got mine at Sam's Club for $69 and some change. It's the cheapest I've found the unit, online included.

Pros: Does everything it should, at a reasonable price.
Cons: No external water reservoir indicator.

I am regularly surprised at how difficult it is to find a home appliance that does what it should, simply and efficiently. Based on personal experience, for example, it appears easier to design a properly working space shuttle than a two-slice toaster.
This is a functional, useful coffee maker. It makes good coffee, it's easy to use, it's the only home coffee maker I've used where the drip-guard feature actually functions properly. It doesn't leak, the programming actually works without having to resort to the manual to remember the correct sequence of buttons, and it even looks good. All for well under $100. I think we paid about $65 at Costco.
It has a water filter built in. We have good-tasting water, so I can't vouch for how effective it is.
The only real complaint I can come up with is that you can't see the the water reservoir level from outside, you need to peer down from above. So, once or twice I've forgotten that I'd filled it the night before and made a mess in the morning.

Pros: timer
Cons: awkward reservior filling, reflux of coffee grinds into reservior, now ?pump failure

What happened to quality & durability?

This is broken (probably the pump) after 4 years...
despite cleaning the water won't drip well into the pot and backs up and the grounds go into the water reservoir..read this on other reviews as well

It looks nice, coffee quality is decent, but it should last for what it costs!

Pros: as if
Cons: grounds in water tank!

I hate this top loading design. I've had to clean grounds out of the water tank twice, that was the very last time, as I decided to return it. If you fill the grounds up to within an inch of the top of the cone it overflows back into the water tank! Yuck! Suck design!

Pros: Nice styling, good features, good coffee.
Cons: Small water filling access, non-existent support.

I bought my DCC-1200 about 1 year ago. It has been a good machine that was not overly complicated, easy to maintain and made a good cup of coffee. But one morning it woke up dead...completely dead...nothing. Now it was time for the other side of a product...service. This unit has a 3 year warranty. I called the 800 number and was put on hold for a long time. After that I was told (by a machine) that I should leave a voice message. When I got to the voice mail, I was told it was full...good-bye...click. I went to the web site. There I was able to leave an email and they would respond. That was two weeks ago...no response.

Its a shame. This is a nice product, but its not cheap and without service you're rolling the dice when you buy one.

Pros: Looks good
Cons: Unreliable result, often weak Water reservoir basically unreadable

A coffeemaker, at these prices, is supposed to make coffee reliably. It helps if it looks good, but that doesn't make up for weak brew. Unfortunately, our Cuisinart looks good but can't be relied on for the brewing, so we are going to take it back to Costco. We like very strong coffee, from Peet's, ground to an espresso texture. Are we coffee snobs? We are "coffee aware, coffee demanding" I think, and believe that a weak cup of coffee is a waste of time and energy all around. If that's you, read on. If not, enjoy your weak coffee and perhaps this coffee maker.

Our requirements mean we need to use alot of coffee in the basket. We often find that only a portion of the grind has been soaked during the brew cycle, and other portions remain dry. We've tried different configurations of the grind: scooping out the middle, flat, etc. My wife also will stir up the grind during the brew cycle. All this is ridiculous at the price charged by Cuisinart. So we are going to return it.

Pros: Appearance, price, replaceable filter, automatic cycle
Cons: Makes terrible coffee

I bought this coffee maker after reading reviews here on epinions. I wanted to replace my Bunn only because the Bunn did not have an automatic brew cycle. I can't figure out why but I find the coffee to be tasteless. I first used the same coffee that I was using in the Bunn and I have since tried other brands and I have tried grinding different beans. I have changed the filter and I have used filtered water. The coffee always comes out the same, tasteless and bitter. Given the number of positive reviews written here I wanted to give this product every possible chance but now I am afraid I will scrap it and go back to the Bunn.

Pros: Makes good coffey and looks good, but the stainless is hard to keep clean
Cons: Leaks, dribles backs up very annoying do not buy

Had this coffey maker about three years and I have a love hate relationship with it. It makes good coffey but the carafe dribles that is it runs back up the side no matter how you pour it it's very annoying. Also if the pot isnt on just right it will back up. Overall I would not buy this product again it is very annoying. I think you could get better for the money. This is a huge design flaw that I find hard to see how no one at the manufacturer didn't see.

Pros: Good coffee, quick and hot, all options seem to work well.
Cons: No water marker, but we don't care.

We were done with the Mr Coffee's! We tried several other brands- (Krupps was horrible, leaky, options did not work, caraf was very fragile and flimsy). After reading the reviews on epinions we decided on the Cuisinart DCC-1200 and are very, very glad we did!! Got it on sale at Linen's and Things, on-line for under $80.00, worth having good coffee and no aggrevation! We thought it might be difficult to fill, but not at all. Has the 1-4 cup option and the element adjustment for keeping it warm-hot. Also has the auto-shutoff from 1 minute to 5 hours I believe. Had to get used to the top on the caraf, it comes all the way off, but now i think it is much better than the old flip style, you can clean and fill the caraf much easier. Doesn't have water marker on side but we always use the caraf to measure anyway. DOESN'T LEAK when you pour!! The only thing we have noticed is the lid doesn't seem to go all the way down over the grounds, but no leaks or anything. Very happy with our new and stylish coffee maker!!

Pros: Styling- Adjustable hot plate that really does keep the coffee HOT.
Cons: None- Does the job of making decent brewed coffee

I am not a coffee fanatic and only drink 2-3 cups a day and primarily on weekends. My biggest gripe has been the temperature of the coffee after brewing and the ability of these machines to maintain a hotter temperature while it sits on the hot plate. Most coffee makers I have purchased have fallen short in that area. The brewed coffee wasnt exactly HOT and the hot plate barely kept it warm after brewing. It seems as though the coffee maker manufacturers have deliberately prevented us from maintaining a hot coffee temperature for fear of having a lawsuit against them, in the event one spilled coffee in their own crotches like that infamous McDonalds case from a few years ago where that woman scalded herself in the car while driving ( DUMB). Anyway I digressed..... THIS machine brews great tasting coffee- even a pot of 1-4 cups AND it keeps the carafe hot enough for additional cups. It has nice styling as well and I guess you do have to spend a few more dollars to find a quality home coffee maker.