All these (new) e61 HX machines will make an equivalent coffee. It will come down to ease of use / external design set out, size of drip trays (small drips trays are a pitta), whether group handles are straight or angled, strength of steam output, type of steam tip, amount of vibration from water pump, cool touch pipes or not, size of cup tray on top, method of filling the internal reservoir, corrosion proofed chassis or painted etc etc etc. ie personal preferences of an individual, the "icing" mentioned above. That said....the thing about "choice" is, that any particular individual can and may decide that while one model may offer him some extra feature that he likes, it isn't worth (to him) paying the difference in price between it and some other reasonably equivalent model. So budget VS features is very important. EG, while I would pay more for a model with a larger drip tray, someone else might not consider it important enough to pay more...(until they find out how much of a pitta small drip trays are in effectively "portable" machines that do not have a drain to the plumbing...). As an individual, I would also pay more for a machine with better steam valves. How does an individual assess that, if he is not in the know? What you cant test is availability / ease of service / quality of internals = reliability over time and "quality" of the local service provider. What you also cannot test is the difference between a machine that has been tested (and selected) as a result of a demo/test in someone's showroom, and a brand new "in the box" machine taken home as a result of that demo/test. EG....an individual machine may test nicely in the showroom, however a new in the box machine taken home, may vibrate more (or seem to) than the demo machine, due to individual standard of build.... Ultimately, if you want exactly what you selected in a demo at the retailer's, you may wish to buy the demo off the floor and take that. And may I say, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that if the price is adjusted and you have a full guarantee on the machine. Ultimately, this exercise can be as difficult or as easy as an individual wishes to make it. Just some salient points.. oh yes PS...above somewhere you mentioned the grinder and you also mentioned that you are stretched on the budget for the machine.....in which case for the moment my advice is to stay with your current grinder which is perfectly adequate to the job. When you have money to spend on some kind of "upgrade", you will need to do a side by side test between your current grinder and whatever could be a contender, and see what the difference in price offers you as an individual. IE is the cost of the "upgrade" justifiable to you as in individual, for the return that the upgraded grinder will give you.
