Quality Coffee Maker at a Reasonable Price

I found the KitchenAid 12-Cup Ultra on sale at the Wegmans Supermarket for $45. The price was a steal for this particular KitchenAid model. Since I was tired of our low-end non-performing Braun coffee maker, it was a good time to replace it.

What's good about it: The 12-Cup Ultra is very easy to use, very easy to clean, the coffee is piping hot when brewed, the 1-to-3-Cup setting delivers good tasting coffee even when brewing a small quantity, the KitchenAid Hassle-Free Total Replacement warranty gives the consumer one full year of near unconditional replacement, the "Time Since Brewing" indicator is helpful (actually the coffee still tastes pretty good after nearly 2 hours on the warming plate), and the auto shut off is a good safety measure.

The Down Side: This coffee maker is very noisy during brewing, the external water level indicator is useless, and the heavy duty electrical cord is a bit bulky.

I've read (on Amazon) that some reviewers have problems with spilling when pouring from the carafe and that the "Automatic Pause and Pour" feature does not work. I haven't encountered these problems during my use.