I've been recently doing a lot of research in order to get the best overall commercial espresso machine..
I was fond of the Elektra Aletta (http://www.elektrasrl.com/aletta.php) and Belle Epoque Verticale (http://www.elektrasrl.com/belle_epoque.php.) Beautiful machines.
Whilst I found very little literature in terms of reviews, I was very convinced. Slowly I learned about the scarcity of spare parts and that the company would only sell to distributor, which my region lacked.
I moved my efforts to the Strada EP, which then I learned had its issues, such as the difficulty of use and in maintaining consistency even when the pressure profiles were stored (very important) and so forth. I got discouraged when I learned about the complications that may even have a destructive nature to the startup. La Marzocco does have a distributor.
The Victoria Arduino Venus (http://www.victoriaarduino.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=17&Itemid=22&lang=en) is a beauty that resembles the Belle Epoque, a show piece for sure. Then I learned that there isn't a regional distributor for those either.
Firstly, how important is it to have a distributor? How difficult are these machines to service. What are the most important factors in looking for a machine? Verdicts according to experience?
Thank you.
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