Great for casual drinkers, tinkering yeilds better results for afficionados

Author's Rating:

Pros:  Handsome, quiet, well-made where it counts.

Cons: Timer knob takes getting used-to. Hopper not removeable if beans are inside.

The Bottom Line: 

Elitists will have an axe to grind, but it's the best around at the $100 pricepoint, and Breville customer service is A1. 

Author's Review
I'm espresso-only, so that's what I'm talking about: grinding for a good shot on a mid-range machine. I use my Breville BCG450XL to grind 2-4 scoops a day, and after 5 months, not a single glitch. I grind a low-oil medium roast bean somewhere between the Espresso and Turkish settings. While there is a very small layer of fines in the bottom of my shot cup, I suspect it isn't going to get much better, unless you pony up the Lira for a Rancilio or Mazzer. The grind consistency is as good as it gets for this pricepoint, folks.
 
Getting the grounds out of the container can be a little messy, as it is a slightly irregular shape, but there is no mess when you pull it out of the bottom of the grinder, so Kudos to Breville on that note. Static has not been an issue with my preferred roast, but I have noticed more static with darker roasts, as did one other reviewer here.

Regarding the timer: yep, it's kinda funky,the designers missed a beat there, but only insofar as it isn't immediately obvious how to use it. Here's how:
1. put one or two scoops of your fave beans in the hopper, depending on your usual routine (single or double shot).
2. Find the grind consistency you need for your machine.
3. Find the timer setting needed to grind just that amount, and then tape the knob down or pull it off so it can't get knocked. Alternately, you could put a dot of white-out on the housing to line up with the knob indicator dot.
Result: now you just dump your beans on a scoop-by-scoop basis, hit the button, and you basically have a ready-made dose for your portafilter.

Burr heating during consecutive grind cycles has not been an issue. I was a bit disappointed to find that if you fill the hopper and remove it to store your beans in the freezer, they will spill out the bottom. No way I'm going to let a 1/2 lb. of beans sit on the counter for a week, so I scoop from my freezer container each morning. Not a big deal.

I'm still experimenting with the fineness of the grind; everyone's espresso machine has a slightly different portafilter, and the filter basket perforations vary widely between my three espresso machines. My machines include a Krups 964, a Krups FNC Novo 3000, and a Breville BES820XL. The Novo 3000 has a microscopic perf size; super-fine grinds kill the crema with my low-oil beans. At the same time, I have to crank it to Turkeyville to get a decent grind for the much larger 964 basket perforations. I've barely started with my Breville machine, it's fairly new, and I'm just getting into the swing of being a home barista after a long coffee hiatus from my San Francisco barista heyday in the 90's. *reminisces fondly of lever-machine mastery*

Final thoughts: Pricepoint-to-performance ratio seems good to me. If you don't know how many bar of pressure is optimum in a pump machine, and would guess that the "E61 group head" has to do with naval code of conduct, then you probably won't need any more than the Breville BCG450XL. If you DO own a really good machine, don't complain when it doesn't measure up. Besides, if you're a true conna-sewer, WTH are you doing trying to save a few hundred with Breville, anyway? Hie yourself to Home-Espresso.com or HomeBarista.com with the other espresso intelligentsia--if you're going to be a coffee snob, do it right, for Peet's sake.