Silvia is my husband's mistress

Author's Rating:

Pros: Terrific tasting product

Cons: REALLY difficult to use.  

The Bottom Line: 
If you don't mind working very hard to learn her ropes, Sylvia makes a great (double) shot.

Author's Review
She is sleek and beautiful.  I'll give him that.  Silvia is easy on the eyes.  And she makes terrific espresso.
But I could sooner fix your car engine than make a single shot on her.  Double shots I can manage.  The single requires extreme tamping, and a lot of arm strength.  Now, I consider myself a technically inclined person.  There aren't any other appliances around the house that intimidate me (except for the chainsaw-- and that one could KILL me, so I consider my fear sensible).  But Silvia really is difficult to use.  Too much coffee in the shot, and you can't load it.  Too little, and it runs out fast and week.  And the difference between too much and too little is surprisingly small.
Even the frothing arm is fussy.  If you "dial" it too low, nothing happens.  If you dial it too high, you get a rather violent blast of steam.  It took my husband only a couple of days to learn how to make great espresso on Silvia, but weirdly it took a few weeks to get the frothing just right.
Yes, Silvia's boyfriend Rocky or another pricey grinder is necessary.  Also, there is a long lag time between brewing the espresso and the frother achieving a high enough temperature.
The reason this fickle machine is still popular is that it makes a super high quality product for an entry level (professional caliber) machine.
It ain't because she's friendly.