Hamilton Beach 49974 FlexBrew Single-Serve Coffee Maker Compatible with Pod Packs and Grounds, 14.0 ounces, Black

I have been searching for a coffee maker that could brew ground coffee AND/OR coffee from the pods. I MUCH prefer ground coffee over the pods but occasionally I'll receive coffee pods as a gift and would like to use them so I wanted a unit that could brew both but wasn't so insanely over priced. I came across this one and thought I'd give it a shot. I've had the unit for a few months now and I have to say that I am incredibly happy that I made this purchase. It performs just as I wanted it to. It takes up very little space on the countertop and brews perfectly, both grounds AND from the pods. I wanted to wait until I made sure to try the pod function before I left a review and I am VERY happy to say that this is an AWESOME unit. VERY reasonably priced and does the job perfectly. I have always preferred to brew my coffee as I need it so the single brew is what I wanted but if you like an entire pot of coffee at each brew then this is not the unit for you. The ONLY drawback I have run into is the the unit does not have room for taller travel mugs but that is a very minor issue and one that I worked around quickly by taking off the adjustable stand below and, TADA! it fits taller mugs!. It is VERY easy and quick to clean the unit and I LOVE that I no longer need to fuss with coffee filters thanks to the reusable supplied one which I have pictures of attached. The plate that the cup sits on is not a hot plate but again, that's not an issue for me because I brew the coffee when I want to drink it so I have no need for it to sit on a hot/warming plate waiting for me to pick it up. I brew it, grab it and drink it. Overall I would give this unit a 9.5/10 the only minor loss was that it isn't a warming plate that the mug sits on but again that is not a problem for myself. LOVE THIS UNIT!!!

All the practical reasons I really like this Hamilton Beach coffee maker.(I first bought the Sboly, which made me appreciate this model all the more-my Solby review is at the bottom.)ABOUT THE HAMILTON BEACH-The coffee ground basket is solid plastic with screening at the bottom. This makes the basket very firm to handle and easy to empty hot coffee grounds. It has a rigid lip that you can knock against the edge of the trash can without getting the coffee grounds all over the floor. The lid is hinged so there is no folding plastic parts, and snaps on and off if you want to do that.-There are two cup levels to choose from although you would have to make the coffee twice to fill the larger cup. When I do want to fill a larger cup, I just use the cup I usually use and pour it into the bigger cup. The container it sits on to raise the cup is rigid and stores the second k-cup basket, nice!-You pour in the water you need up to 14oz, which is perfect for the 16oz cup. It is also a little shorter and fits under my cabinet door when open-personal thing but turned out to be very relevant in my situation ;-)-The reservoir lid is hinged - pop it open, pop it closed.-So, I forgot to run some plain water through before I started using it and there was a weird taste in the first two cups of coffee. I ran water with a little white vinegar through about 2 times then plain water about 2 times to get rid of the odd taste. Now it is perfect.AS COMPARED TO THE SBOLYWhat I did not like about the Sboly (it may seem odd to include this part but all those bells and whistles sounded really good in theory but were not so great in practice.):-The Sboly splattered, and I was using the appropriate level for my cup size. My cup is of standard size. We looked at it to make sure nothing was clogged. My husband said the pressure of the hot water was too great for the design, therefore spitting instead of dripping.-The Sboly's level adjustment tray seemed sort of flimsy. Even when I set my average weight coffee cup on the tray empty, it gave a little, slanting downward. It didn't bode well for the future.-I did not like the basket they provide to use with coffee grounds. When you open the top, the crease where the lid folds down appeared white, like folded plastic does just before it breaks. The whole thing is screened, which sounds good in theory, but makes it difficult to handle when you are trying to change the grounds, especially when they are hot. The top of the lid is larger than the bottom, and it started to fall open when I would go to remove it from the coffee maker. It is also a challenge to find a way to hold it when you are trying to dump the contents in the trash can and you cannot knock it against the side of the trash can to get the grounds out because it is not rigid and there is no lip to catch on the edge of the can. Again, the lid being bigger than the body makes this process awkward. Overall, flimsy and difficult to manage.-The Sboly's preset cup sizes sounded good in theory but were really a pain. My husband uses 16oz to-go paper cups that obviously hold more than 12oz so I could not fill his cup as much as I would like. Also, if you are making 12oz cups of coffee, a 30oz reservoir is kind of weird, why not 36oz, so you fill it every other time instead of every time. Again, sounded good in theory. The lid to the reservoir is not hinged and it took me using both hands to get it in the right spot when putting it back on; I kept dropping it in the reservoir when I used one hand :-)-Finally, with the top open, it was just a little too tall to open the cabinet door above it where I keep the coffee. I also had to find a place to store the k-cup basket where I wouldn't forget. Another funky shaped doo-dad with no obvious place to call home.-So I returned the Sbolyy, and got my refund no problem.I hope this helps somebody!

We bought this to take to a convention that is held in an overpriced hotel with very expensive food and beverage service. I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a K-brand. I also didn't want to deal with their DRM that locks out pods from companies that did not pay them royalties.This Hamilton Beach unit seemed like a good alternative, and so far it has been. It works well, and the coffee is as good as you can hope for from a pod brewer. Some other reviewers have grumbled about it being slow, but I don't see much difmy Dad's K-brand.It's super easy to clean...if you use pods. The "funnel" thing (that the coffee goes through en route from the K-cup or grounds basket to the cup) pops right out for washing.The supplied filterless basket for ground coffee works well and makes decent coffee, but it's a real pain in the neck to clean. I guess that's probably true of other brands, too; I don't know.Bottom line is, this is a good value. I don't see much difference between this and a Keurig, other than cost.