Cuisinart DCC-1100

The Cuisinart DCC-1100 is a 12-cup automatic drip coffee maker that is basically a cheaper version of the highly rated Cuisinart Brew Central DCC-1200 (*Est. $80). For $20 less, you get a plastic housing instead of stainless steel, no automatic shutoff, no automatic indicator that cleaning is needed and no cord storage. It does have a built-in water filter, timer and pause function that lets you sneak the first cup and then continue brewing the rest of the glass pot. Owner reviews are essentially very positive. Some say the Cuisinart DCC-1100 suffers an early death, but there is a three-year warranty. Others say there are leaks and that it's hard to access the water tank. If you want something even cheaper, reviews are good for the Mr. Coffee JWX27 (*Est. $40).

ConsumerReports.org rates the Cuisinart Brew Central DCC-1200 rather than the DCC-1100, so we turned to owner reviews. We found about 170 user ratings at Amazon.com, and a smattering at Epinions.com and Cooking.com. The DCC-1100 is reviewed by owners at CoffeeGeek.com, but the DCC-1200 is.