Cuisinart DCC-1200 12-Cup Brew Central Coffeemaker, Black and Stainless Steel

Comment: I replaced a previously purchased Cuisinart Grind and Brew which lasted about 2 months before the grinder over heated and died (you would think that they would put a circuit breaker with a reset button on all of these grinders since over heating is such a common issue with all of the manufacturers!) I chose the DCC-1200 as it seemed to me to be the same coffee maker as the Grind and Brew without the burned out grinder sitting on top.
The DCC-1200 worked great for the first couple of months but then it began to act up. When new it would take about 10 to 14 minutes to brew 12 cups of coffee. However in the 3rd month it began to intermittently take from 10 to 35 minutes to complete a single pot. I noticed that the longer it took to finish the less coffee actually reached the pot. When I put 12 cups of water in I came up with only 9 to 10 cups of coffee in the caraf with the rest of the water going out the back of the unit as steam.
Over time I realized that when I set up the coffee maker to brew the next morning that often the lid would not close properly. At first I thought it was that the filter paper was holding up the lid but I soon came to realize that there is a part inside the lid that slides back and forth as the lid opens and closes and from time to time it seems that something is obstructing this movement. Now when I close the top I simply push the lid forward until it drops by its own weight. Sometimes the lid falls into a snug fit with the base of the coffee maker. When this happens the 12 cups of water I put in yields 12 cups of coffee. However most times the lid stops as much as a half an inch above the base. When I then force the lid down to where is is fully closed, the 12 cups becomes 9 - 10 cups at the end of the cycle. There seems to be no way to take the lid off to see what the obstruction is or to remove it.
I further note that if the filter basket over flows there is a return near the back that redirects the overflow back into the fill spout. I am guessing that it is possible that at one time or another the filter basket overflowed and that water and coffee grounds were channeled back into the fill spout and that it is these grounds that have worked their way back up into the lid and are now blocking the proper opperation within the lid. That being said I have never run the pot without the charcoal filter in place and I have never seen grounds on the outside of this filter when I have changed it each month. So I have no idea if it is coffee grounds in the lid that is causing this problem.
I also can attest to most of the other problems users have had, most notably the amount of condensate water that comes off the lid and onto the counter behind the unit when the lid is opened. We also noted that there is no way to turn off the audible tone that sounds when the cycle is complete. However in our case this is not a problem because the tone if barely audible when it is at its loudest.
The thing makes great coffee when it works, but I will not be buying another one when this one finally dies. The unit I have also serves as a great humidifier for our kitchen!

Comment: My 4 year old DCC 1200 sufferred from a broken carafe, and we were worried the hot plate was going too because the coffee wasn't very hot. We saw in a recent CR that the DCC1200 is the best, so we just bought a new one from Amazon. We got the dark chrome which is very nice and good for avoiding that dirty stainless steel look.

The interior design, where the water resevoir is, is different from our old one. I took it apart as a father-son project (how stuff works). They have improved the model over time, which is always a nice thing to see.

My advice to you is... we were happy enough to buy another one. We are happier with the performance of the new one.

Only complaint we've had is that it shuts off the burner before we're ready... sometimes we want another cup of coffee AFTER 2 hours. If you hear the beep, just flip the on switch again, and your old coffee will stay hot for another 2 hours.

If you see any complaints here about older DCC1200 (3 or more years old) they will not be accurate as far as what you can buy today due to changes.

Comment: Switched to this product from a Bunn. I gave up some speed but the coffee quality is fantastic. The coffee grind basked included works best if you just drop it in from a few inches above the slot. It keeps the coffee at perfect temperature without changing the taste even after a couple of hours.

Comment: My husband is the coffee drinker in our household and I think we finally found the coffeemaker of his dreams. After 50 plus years , we have it. s

Comment: Well, what does one say about a coffee maker? It makes coffee. I agree with some other reviewers that the water fill port is located a little bit awkwardly, but this is not a huge deal. The graduation marks in the water reservoir are useless; you really can't see how much water is in there, so you need to measure out your water before pouring it in. It has some nice features. I like the programmable auto shutoff timer, and the 1-4 Cup setting really does somehow make better coffee when brewing a small amount. The black and brushed steel design matches nicely with our other kitchen appliances. Similar features and brewing quality can probably be found at a lower price point, but I guess we pay for design and build quality, too.