Black& Decker DCM2500W SmartBrew 12-Cup Coffeemaker, White

Black and Decker (B&D) has designed a coffee maker that is inexpensive and simply eliminates those problems...

How I know:
I got this coffee maker for the office. We brew at least three 12-cup pots a day. We've done about 100 pots WITHOUT A SPILL OR LEAK. I highly recommend this machine.

What I know:
The "Perfect Pour Carafe" is great. B&D just gave it a wider spout! What a concept! You wouldn't think a handle makes a big difference, but when you're carrying 12-cups-worth of water or coffee, you will suddenly appreciate this excellent handle. This carafe even looks nice.

The filter basket does not swing out, nor must you hold it in one hand while you add the coffee. Swing-out baskets are the ones that overflow when you don't close them perfectly, and slide-out removable baskets leave only one hand for the scooping chores. This basket can be removed to dump the old grounds, but is then replaced in the machine so both hands are free.

That is because the lid opens up to expose the filter basket and the unobstructed, large water resevoir. No careful aiming or water splashing off of useless plastic grates when filling. There is a strange looking, hinged "shower head" that delivers the hot water to the filter basket. It is simple in design and works well.

The lid closes securely and pins down the removable filter basket to further eliminate human error in basket positioning.

Even the "sneak a cup" mechanism is simple and effective. It is simply a rubber stopper on a simple lever. The carafe can be placed in a "wrong" and possibly overflow-producing position, but if you place it with the handle straight out, you can't go wrong.

Water level is indicated externally on both sides of the machine.

Auto shut-off after two hours is essential in our office. It works and the coffee is kept quite hot during that time.

Easy to clean (buttons are water/coffee proof).

Need I say more?


An excellent coffee maker   May 22, 2007
 28 out of 28 found this review helpful

Because we're serious about our coffee, we sold our old $100+ Cuisinart coffeemaker to be replaced with this much better designed and much easier to use coffee maker.

A motel room we stayed at had this model coffee maker. We used it twice a day for 10 days. The coffee was delicious and we found no minuses at all, so I bought one. We've been using it daily now for about three months.

The carafe is made of heavy duty glass and doesn't drip at all. The hole to pour water into is large and easy to get to. There are convenient and accurate water level windows on both sides of the unit. The controls are convenient, easy to understand, and easy to use. The basket is easily removed for cleaning, easy to position, and uses standard flat bottomed filters. The time and function displays are large and bright. All of these are comparative problem areas in the Cuisinart.

Programming works perfectly and is so simple to use we didn't need the manual. To set the time of day press the "Hours" button until it reaches the current hour and then the "Minutes" button. To set the "Auto on" time, press the "Program" button, and then set the start time the same way. Press the "Program" button again to go back to time of day. For auto start, press the "Auto on" button, which lights up. That's it.

In addition, the water enters the drip chamber in a shower rather than a stream, resulting in consistently smooth and uniform tasting coffee. I can't comment on the warming plate because we put what we don't drink immediately into a Thermos for all day use. The warming plate shuts itself off after two hours if you forget.

The negative reviews are a puzzle to me. We found none of the problems mentioned.

This is an addendum in mid Nov, 2007. The coffeemaker still makes perfect coffee and everything works like new. The only negative I'd add is that the warming plate is quite rusty, probably because I put a pot of tap water on it at night to have chlorine free water in the morning. Often the pot is damp. When we need to replace this coffeemaker, I'll paint the new warming plate with bar-b-cue paint before the first use, for rust protection.

This is an update, dated 11/20/07. The coffeemaker still works perfectly and still looks good. I sanded the rust off of the base plate, painted it with bar-b-cue paint, and as expected there is no more rust problem. I don't think the rust would occur for most people. I caused it by putting a wet pot on the plate overnight seven days a week.


It Just Makes Coffee.   February 10, 2007
 14 out of 14 found this review helpful

Since the trend seems to be the production and purchase of items that make phone calls, play mp3s, serve as calulators, take pictures, play movies and change the cat litter box, this coffeemaker may not impress some people. It just makes coffee. It uses normal coffee filters (the flat bottom type), brews the coffee and turns off the warming plate after two hours. It does not do anything else. I, personally LIKE that. After all, how many mp3 players does one need? What kind of tech-crazy person wants to make phone calls on their coffee maker? Who can talk before they have had their first cup of coffee in the first place?

If you are looking for a coffee maker that just makes coffee and does it rapidly and without any complicated instructions that must be followed (who can follow complicated instructions before their first cup of coffee, either?) then this would be a good choice. If you want to film a movie with your coffee maker, this is not the coffee maker for you.


An excellent coffee maker   September 8, 2007
 10 out of 10 found this review helpful

Bought it over a year ago. Use it daily. It works great with ordinary tap water. It is simply a basic coffee maker. Not beautiful, not loaded with useless features, just an excellent basic coffee maker. Broke the pot this morning, however, and that means I will need to buy another one. At $21, even that is painless.




Great coffee maker!   August 25, 2007
 9 out of 9 found this review helpful

I agree with the reviewers who have said "what is the fuss about?". This is a GREAT coffee maker. I have had no problems at all so far and having owned several different brands previously, I would say this one is the best I've owned for being so inexpensive.

The automatic setting is really fantastic as you can set the maker to make coffee whenever you need it to. You don't have to use this feature and if you want to, you can make coffee in the pot even if you have it set on the automatic feature and the automatic settings won't be disturbed.

The coffee stays hot in the pot for a long time and doesn't get any of the overdone or burnt flavor that I've experienced with some other makers.

I haven't had a single problem with drips from the pot and think that it does a really fine job when you pour. I don't know what some people's problem is with this feature. I think maybe it says more about the sloppiness of those pouring than the design of the coffeemaker!

I can't say I've used the interrupt feature because this machine doesn't take long at all to brew a pot and I have not needed to interrupt it in order to grab a quick cup.

I honestly don't know what the negative reviewers were expecting. This is a fine machine that does the job and is a great value for all of its features. It also looks great in the black model and fits very nicely in my stainless kitchen.

I highly recommend this coffeemaker! I am so glad I ignored the negative reviews because this machine works great and was a bargain.