Education

Interested in espresso? Looking to cut pod coffee out? Still want the simplicity of push button operation? It sounds like you need a superauto!

We've talked about superautomatic espresso machines at length here. So much so that you probably already know what these machines are. As a refresher, a superautomatic espresso machine is a machine that uses whole bean coffee to deliver delicious espresso based drinks. They are sort of like "cafes in a box." The trade-off is that no automated process can truly outdo a skilled barista on professional equipment. With that said, a superauto machine on your kitchen counter is an incredible convenience that can still provide a tasty morning does of caffeine. Superautos also cut down on the waste generated by pod machines, though they don't make drip coffee. There are a number of factors to think about when selecting a superauto. We'll touch on these things as we go through this guide to buying your first machine, or upgrading!

First Machine

For your first machine it's hard to argue against the Philips Carina. Getting into espresso for the first time is an expensive endeavor that the Carina makes a lot less scary. This is a simple to use machine that may seem light on features, but is actually a fantastic value. You can control dose (the amount the machine grinds for each shot) volume, and pull shots of espresso, long, coffee style lungo shots, hot water for americanos, and steamed milk. These are the core functions of any superauto espresso machine, so to have them surfaced like on the Carina is a boon. Add to all of this the easy to use AquaClean filtration system, and you've got an affordable winner of a beginner machine. Just remember to buy a filter with the machine!

One thing that is important to note about the Carina is its panarello steam wand. This means that you'll need to manually hold a pitcher of milk up to the wand to steam it, like on a semi-auto machine. For many, the promise of automatic milk steaming is why they want a superauto in the first place. If auto steaming is a make or break feature for you, consider checking out the Philips 3200 Latte Go. This machine is just like the Carina in many ways, but includes a carafe based steaming system for automatic steaming.

The other great thing about the Carina is it'll help you understand exactly what you want out of your next machine. Maybe you'll settle on the idea that more control over the shot is key for you. In this case, you may want to upgrade to a semi-auto machine. Maybe you like the superautomatic nature of the Carina, but you don't need the milk steaming. In this case, upgrading to something like the Jura A1, which brews espresso only, may be the perfect solution.

Upgrading to a New Machine

If you're looking at upgrading from an older machine and have a budget of over $1,000, consider the Jura E6. The E6 produces some exceptional espresso thanks to Jura's P.E.P. brewing system and is a definite upgrade from an interface perspective. Using its vibrant screen and simple button system you'll be able to set dose, temp, shot length, and milk volume for your drinks. One-touch cappuccinos with the E6's automatic siphon system are a delicious option as well. Finally, the maintenance tools on the E6 are really something. The comprehensive software is great at reminding you to rinse, clean, and descale the machine.

The only real negative on this machine is the lack of milk control that you get. While the cappuccino foam that the siphon system on the E6 creates is decent, it just can't do lattes. This may be a dealbreaker for some folks. If that's you, then it's worth taking a look at the Miele 6350.

The 6350 offers great milk texture for lattes and cappuccinos, delicious coffee, and is easy to operate. It's expensive, but justifies its price with extra features like a hot water spout, brew group light, and a a spill-proof drip tray. It's an easy recommendation for anyone looking at buying the last machine they'll need.

Stay tuned for more buying guides focused on drip brewing and semi-auto espresso machines!

It's time for the first of our series of buying guides! These guides will help you pick the perfect products to start your coffee journey. We'll cover a range of different brew methods and product ranges here. Today we're starting with pour over, one of the simplest, most cost effective ways to get started with craft coffee. Today we'll offer a starter and upgrade option each for a kettle, dripper, scale, grinder, and drink-ware.

Overview

Brewing pour over is a simple concept. You simply place your filter in your dripper, put the dripper on your drinkware, add medium-coarse ground coffee to the filter, then pour hot water over the grounds. How much per pour, and how many pours, is something you'll have to experiment with. While most coffees will work best with a 1:16 ratio of coffee to water, how much water you add with each pour is the tricky part.

Because this brew method is nice and simple, the gear you need is pretty simple too!

For a great all-in-one option, take a look at our pour over starter kit. We'll dig into more specific separate options, but this is a good deal if you don't want to read any further!

Kettle

The first piece of gear we're going to talk about for your initial setup is your kettle. There are two keys for picking out a kettle to brew pour over with: One, you want a gooseneck. The reason is that gooseneck kettles pour at just the right flow rate, so you can focus on timing and volume rather than rate of pour. The second thing you want to make sure of is that the kettle is variable temperature. You want to be able to set it to a temp rather than have it boil water and then cool. This is because you should be brewing your coffee at our around 200 degrees. You'll still want the flexibility to go a bit lower or a bit higher as well depending on taste and roast.

With all of this in mind, the best starter kettle we can recommend is this Bonavita Variable Temp Kettle. It's simple, reliable, and affordable.

For an upgrade, the Fellow EKG+ is expensive, but offers connectivity with Acaia's Brewbar app for dialing in specific recipes. More on that later!

Scale

Your scale is key because you need to ensure specific weights from measuring out coffee all the way to pouring. Getting an accurate scale that is resistant to water is a big plus, and many coffee specific scales offer some bells and whistles that make brewing pour over easier.

For your first scale it's hard to go wrong with the Brewista Smart Brew. This scale offers excellent accuracy and even includes a basic timer. Plus, it's super affordable.

For an upgrade, take a look at the Acaia Pearl and Pearl S. Both of these scales offer connected apps that work with the above mentioned EKG+. These apps let you dial in and save specific recipes to recreate the perfect pours for your favorite coffees.

Grinder

Your grinder is an interesting purchase. Any non-espresso burr grinder will work for pour over, but buying a grinder that offers some flexibility is useful in the long term. Maybe in a few months you'll want to brew in a press? What about drip brewers? As you can see, getting a good all around grinder for filter coffee is the best option. That said, the easiest way to avoid waste is to weigh your coffee before you grind it, rather than approximating an amount and tossing the extra.

This means you want a hopper that's easy to work with. For a starter grinder for drip and pour over it's hard to go wrong with the Baratza Encore. In terms of consistency and performance, it's one of the best brew grinders ever. The only downside is that it is a little light on bells and whistles, offering timed grind and on/off options.

It's hard to recommend grinder upgrades for pour over because you're really upgrading into specific things for specific reasons. The Eureka Mignon Filtro is an excellent option if you want to get hyper granular in your grind adjustments to extract every drop of flavor from your pour over. On the other hand, if you want to make brewing faster and more efficient, the Vario-W includes a built in weight function. Which direction you go is up to you!

Dripper

Your dripper is going to determine the type of filters you use and does have an impact on flavor. It's hard to understand what this impact is until you've tried coffees from a few different dripper styles. For this reason, we're recommending three different drippers that we think work great. Whichever one best fits your budget is the way to go!

First up, the Hario V60 is one of the simplest, most popular drippers in the world.

The Kalita Wave is also extremely popular, and has a fervent fanbase.

Finally, a Chemex is a great option that offers unique flavor and a built in server. Perfect if you are making coffee for a group.

Servers and Mugs

Last but not least, you'll need something to brew into and drink out of! To get a clear view of the brewing process, and to brew multiple cups of coffee for yourself or to share, check out a server like the Bonavita Glass Carafe. If you're brewing for one, you can brew right into a mug like the Acme Union of the Fellow Joey!

With all of that gear you should be good to go! Adding it all up may seem like a lot, but scales and grinders offer so many coffee applications beyond pour over. It's why we recommend starting with pour over, because lots of the parts you use will be transferable to other brew methods. Good luck with your first brew!

We've talked at length about how to get started with different brewing methods. Sharing tips on brewing coffee is kind of our deal! An important piece of the puzzle that's often skipped though is helping you decide how you want to brew. There's more than a few factors in choosing a brew method, which we'll be sure to detail over the next few weeks. Today we're talking about an easy one: Flavor! Here we'll dig into the flavor profiles of each brew method to help you understand what you might like. This should also inform the types of coffees you might enjoy in each method.

Drip

The simplest, most common starting point for most people is a good ol' drip brew. While the principle here is the same as in pour over, drip brewing is distinct because we assume it's coming out of an electric brewer. To that end, we'll cover pour over in a separate section.

Drip coffee is perhaps the most balanced brew method in terms of flavor. Typically if a coffee isn't specifically brewed for espresso, it'll at least taste fine in a drip brew. That means you're going to be getting lots of standard chocolate notes and any earthier flavors in the coffee. On the flip side, drip brewers can sometimes obscure lighter floral or fruit notes. To this end, the very best coffees in a drip brew are going to be well balanced blends and single origins.

Press

Press brewing is an immersion style method that lends itself to big, bold flavors. This results in a body and flavor profile somewhere between drip and espresso. Where drip presents smokier notes and chocolate flavors, press brewing will really amplify them. This means that you'll get an extra strong cup of coffee out of a press without going all the way to the syrupy espresso consistency.

With that said, sometimes brighter single origins will actually be better as espresso than in a press. We really recommend doubling down on those perfect medium, or even slightly dark, roasts if you're brewing press.

Pour Over

Pour over is the taster's choice for trying out coffees. We use this method whenever we test coffees here at SCG. This is because pour over tends to be the best brew method for separating flavors. When we say separating, we mean that complex roasts come across as open as possible when brewed as a pour over. This is most noticeable with light coffees that feature floral and fruity notes. If you're trying to understand why a roaster listed pink bubblegum or jasmine in the tasting notes, this is the method to use.

The trick with pour over is the number of variables. Where press and drip brewing are pretty simple, it's often difficult to re-brew the same pour over twice. This is because water flow rate, minor temperature variations, and timing all tend to vary from brew to brew. This can make it hard to stay consistent, but just means it takes some practice!

Espresso

Espresso brewing is one of the most complex methods to use, but also very repeatable once you've dialed in a roast with your setup. Pressurized brewing from espresso tends to extract the sweetest, richest pieces of a coffee's flavor. The result is a syrupy body that is easy to pull too bitter or sour. If you're someone who thinks they *don't* like espresso, there's a good chance you've had it brewed poorly! A good espresso should be smooth, sweet, and very chocolatey. On top of all of this, adding steamed milk or foam and a syrup or two to an espresso creates a rainbow of delicious concoctions!

While some prefer the super dark traditional Italian espresso roasts, there's actually a wide range of coffees that are great for this brew method. Round, simple blends can make a great espresso, but so can super light, tea like single origins. To get the very most out of the brew method, we recommend juicy, berry notes and classic chocolate flavors. This is the best way to start with this brew method!

There are plenty of other interesting brew methods we will approach in future articles, but these four should get you started!

Hello coffee fans!

Over the years, we've offered lots of insight, reviews, and advice for getting started with coffee. Through our Coffee 101 posts we've provided information on the basics of brewing, from espresso to pour over. We've helped to teach you how to start brewing all kinds of ways, but usually those guides don't help too much with purchasing. We've done guides designed to help you figure out what to look for in espresso machines, for example. Now we'd like to do some purchasing guides to show you what machines have those qualities now!

We'll be breaking these guides down by brew method, and they'll include examples of why machines work well for new users. We'll talk about setting budgets as well to help alleviate the sticker shock of new machines. Finally, these guides will work to help you understand why items cost what they do, so you'll come away with an understanding of what you should be paying for.

Finally, we'll also be refreshing these guides every year or so to help provide insight into new products. This way you won't find the perfect machine that has been discontinued or is in between models. So stay tuned! We'll be bringing you our 2020 Getting Started Guides over the next couple of months!

The Philips Carina is one of the most affordable ways to get into superautomatic espresso machines. You've probably heard us gush about the features of this machine, but there's some tips and tricks that'll help you get the most out of it. Read on to learn more and get brewing!

• Warmup time
  • The Carina features pretty fast warmup times. With that said, we recommend turning the machine on first thing, so that it'll be ready to brew when you're ready for coffee!
• Water tank, bean hopper
  • A quick check of the water and bean levels each morning will help you to avoid any delays in getting your drink in the morning.
• Waste bin
  • Similar to our last tip, consider dumping water from the drip tray in between clearing the waste bin. Otherwise you can end up with an easily spilled drip tray when trying to dump the waste bin!
• Brew volumes
  • By pressing the drink button for your drink a second time, you can double the volume of the brew. By combining this with the volume "slider" button you can brew larger drinks.
• Milk steaming
  • The Carina's panarello steam wand makes steaming easy, but by checking out some general milk steaming tips you can up your milk game.
• Use less oily beans
  • More of a general superauto tip, but using beans that aren't too oily can keep your machine's grinder in tip-top shape.
• Experiment
  • Try out a variety of drink options to really put your new machine through its paces!
• Dial in your machine
  • The dial inside the bean hopper is used to dial in your machine, something you should definitely do! From there it can take a dozen or so drinks for the machine to produce its best coffee.

So there you have it! Using these tips you can really get the very best usability and coffee from your Carina!

Superautomatic and semi-automatic machines have similar names but ultimately work quite differently. If you're a regular reader you already know the difference between them. For the uninitiated, a superauto handles everything from grinding the beans to steaming your milk. All you have to do is press a few buttons and maybe hold a pitcher, otherwise the machines does it all. On the flip-side, semi-automatics are a little more hands on. While they don't requires you to manually pump water in (we'd call a machine like that a manual machine) they do require you to grind and tamp the beans yourself. They also require you to steam milk yourself for lattes or cappuccinos.

So which one's for you? If you're new to espresso, you may jump to assume that a superauto is the right option. While that's absolutely the right call for any users, there's reasons to take a closer look.

Superautos

The superauto customer is someone who simply wants good coffee quick. Maybe you like a range of drinks, maybe you're laser focused on getting the best latte or americano. In either case, if your concern is convenience, superautos are the way to go. These are machines that don't require finesse to operate and can brew coffee just a few minutes after being plugged in. There are considerations, of course, you won't want to use especially oily beans, for example. Superautos also can struggle to produce very hot drinks due to the nature of their design.

In any case though, if you are more concerned with quick coffee than learning the ins and outs of espresso, these machines are for you.

Semi-automatics

Semi-automatics definitely require more work than a superauto. While there are grinder/machine combos, you'll probably need to buy a separate grinder at some point if you get into semi-autos. These machines also have a real learning curve. Dialing in a tricky single origin to taste good on your semi-auto can be very challenging. It can also be tough to learn to steam milk at first, as there is technique involved. The thing you do get out of semi-autos though, is control.

Controlling the brewing process with a semi-auto gives you a lot of options. You can really pull specific notes out of lighter roasts, or get extra hot milk. You can make your cappuccinos as dry as you'd like, or, with machines that have PID controllers, control brew temperature. All of this definitely results in a more hobbyist angle. With all of that said, after some practice, making drinks on a semi-automatic machine gets much quicker. Before you know it you'll be brewing with speed and confidence.

Of course, none of that matters is if you're mostly looking for a quick caffeine fix, or a simpler drink. It's also important to note that superautomatic technology has come a long way. While it's still hard to replicate the work of an experienced barista on expensive machines, they're getting close. You can get incredible good coffee from a superauto, it all comes down to your desire to tweak and control the process!

Winter is well and truly here, and we thought it'd be a good time to talk about heat. Hot, clean water is possible the most important part of the brewing process after getting good, fresh ground coffee. It's no wonder then that heat is often the sticking point for a lot of coffee drinkers! We often hear about how coffee out of superautos isn't hot enough, or how warming plates won't stay on long enough. We figured now would be a great time to talk about some ways to keep your coffee hot, and help set expectations.

Drip Brewing

One of the biggest questions with brewing drip coffee is whether glass or stainless carafes are better for heat. The truth is, they just work differently. Stainless steel carafes insulate your coffee to keep it warm vs. being heated by a plate underneath for a glass carafe. Either way, your coffee won't stay hot for more than an hour or two. You can help this by running hot water into the carafe to heat it prior to brewing. This will heat the carafe so that the coffee doesn't bleed as much temperature into it during brewing. Either way, you should expect to need to brew more coffee after an hour or two. If you find it hard to drink a whole pot in that time, just consider brewing less coffee!

If you're trying to serve coffee for a group at an office or event, consider a batch brewer. Nothing keeps drip coffee hot for hours and hours like an airpot!

Pour Over

For pour over, there's a trick that will really help you with heat retention, and that's leaving your dripper and filter over your server. By only removing these for pouring the coffee, your server will retain more heat. This means you can brew a couple of cups worth and it'll stay warm. Other tips include pre-heating the server by pouring hot water into it, pre-heating your cup the same way, and transferring the coffee to an insulated thermos right after brewing.

Espresso

A big one for espresso is keeping your portafilter hot. Special brew groups like E-61s will do this automatically. In any case though, you should keep your portafilter in the machine at all times to aid with this heat. If you have a machine that doesn't heat the portafilter, run a shot's worth of water through it before pulling your espresso. This will heat the portafilter and help with even extraction and heat during brewing. Keeping your cup warm helps here too.

For superautos, heat is just an issue that comes with the territory. These are machines with lots of moving parts packed into tight spaces. Unfortunately, their need to flash heat water quickly to maintain convenience means they just don't always produce drinks as hot as you'd like. Our best recommendation for superautos is to try steaming your milk prior to brewing, as this heats the water more and generally increases the temperature to the machine. We also recommend consuming your drink shortly after brewing to enjoy it at its hottest! If you still find that your superauto isn't as hot as you'd like, it might be time to consider switching it up to a semi-auto.

That's all for now, we hope you enjoy some (hot) coffee you love this Winter!

We've talked plenty about the differences between baskets in the past. This means you probably already know that a pressurized basket helps mitigate grind quality in espresso brewing. One thing that can be far more noticeable on first glance though is portafilter type! It's not always clear what a "standard" portafilter is, what about sizing? Materials? Spouts?

It's confusing!

But we're here to help. Read on for some portafilter basics that'll put you in the know.

Spouts

Spouts are one of the most notable features of a portafilter. The spouts on a portafilter are designed to direct the flow of coffee into your container. Single spout portafilters are generally used when brewing for one, whereas with a double spout you can brew into two glasses at once. But that's not all that having a double spouted filter can help with. One of the keys to ensuring even extraction with espresso is producing an even tamp. Keeping the grounds level in your portafilter is important, as then water flows through the puck evenly as well. A double spouted portafilter can help you identify an even tamp. If you brew into two shot glasses from a double spouted filter and they contain equal amounts, voila! You know you've achieved an even tamp. For even more accuracy, enter the bottomless portafilter.

You've probably seen gorgeous shots of perfectly colored espresso pulling directly from the portafiler's screen. This is possible with the use of a bottomless portafilter. These filters remove the spouts, and metal bottom entirely. Instead, without a basket inserted these portafilters look like a ring. Using a bottomless portafilter can help you see exactly where your tamp may be uneven. If the espresso meets in the middle into a single stream, you know you have that perfect tamp. Plus, it looks pretty!

Material

Material is a factor in portafilter design, but may not be as imperative as you think. The biggest and most important thing imparted by material is durability. A good portafilter should last you years, so whether its all stainless or chrome-plated brass, a durable metal is important. Some lower end machines may come with plastic lined filters that could chip and wear over time. Stainless, on the other hand, won't nick or scratch easily. Chrome-plated brass tends to fall somewhere in the middle, offering longevity and strength but at a greater risk of scuffing than stainless. Material can also impact ergonomics, as heavier metals might cause more strain if you're constantly operating the machine.

There's also the importance of heat conduction. If the bottom of your filter is less warm than the top, it means the water passing through it could lose temp as it passes through the grounds. This is a granular detail, but hobbyists will want to control for every variable. For E61 groupheads, which actively heat the portafilter, this means that a stainless steel filter will stay hot as long as the machine is on. With that in mind, for machines that rely on water flow to heat the portafilter, chrome-plated brass is a more heat conducive material.

Size and Ergonomics

There isn't a huge difference between portafilter sizes. It's true that 58mm filters tend to have slightly more even pressure distribution through the puck. This is because a thinner, taller filter will see a greater pressure difference from the top of the puck to the bottom. However, this is such a granular detail that it has little bearing on actual brewing. Instead, size has more to do with ergonomics and part availability. It's much easier to find 58mm portafilters of different materials and styles that are interchangeable than with 54mms. Since 58mm filters are generally "industry standard" in commercial coffee, you can usually find them after-market. This means you'll be able to find options with different spouts, materials, and handles.

You'll also be able to utilize a wider range of accessories and grinders easily with a 58mm filter. Most espresso grinders with portafilter hooks are generally designed with 58mm in mind, and will offer a better fit.

All of this, of course, its a moot point without a stand out machine. While it's fun to drill into the specifics of portafilter design, the most important parts of your coffee set up will always be machine and grinder!

Pulling the perfect shot of espresso is a learning experience. It's not easy to go from beginner to proficient at such a delicate process. We've talked in the past more generally about ways to improve your espresso game. Today we wanted to take a look at timing and weighing shots, two key components of brewing great espresso!

Shot Weight

Shot weight is important because, as with drip coffee, ratio is key. You need the right amount of water to pass through just the right amount of ground coffee. This ensures that the chemical process of coffee and water molecules bonding takes place. For drip coffee, using a 1:16 ratio of coffee to water is pretty standard. Due to espresso's more concentrated, syrupy nature and the pressure from brewing, 1:2 coffee to water is a good starting point. Using a scale to weigh your shot as it pulls is key here! While you can also use a shot pitcher that measures volume, a scale gives you more freedom. With it, you can brew to exact ratios and try different amounts of coffee and water.

The important thing here is making sure your scale can accommodate you portafilter for weighing grounds AND be small enough to fit under the brewhead. Examples like the Acaia Lunar are small enough to fit under brew spouts and can be combined with plates to fit portafilters.

Shot Timing

In order to manage the perfect extraction, the amount of time a shot takes to pull is very important. Most of the time you'll be aiming for your shot to pull in 20-30 seconds. For more adventurous recipes you might use different timings. If your shot pulls very fast it could mean that you need a finer grind or a tighter tamp. Too long and you may need the opposite. In either case, without timing your shots you'll never know for sure.

Poorly extracted shots can taste sour or bitter, just generally bad. If the timing is good and you use the right volume of coffee and water, you know that it's a problem with the bean! Many scales offer shot timers, but to truly measure down to the millisecond, try to find a brewer with one built in. Timers on machines will usually start automatically when the shot begins to pull. This ensures everything is synced up exactly. Check out this year's the Rocket Giotto for a great machine with built in timer.

We hope this article drives home the important of adding a timer and scale to your espresso setup!

It may seem odd that espresso machines have such a wide price range. Why is it that we recommend such expensive machines when $200 options exist? What makes a $2,000+ machine worth it? Loads of factors actually! Some may seem obvious, but others are not.

Heating Elements

Arguably the largest cost point of an espresso machine is its heating element. Espresso needs a tight temperature band right around 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Producing consistently hot water like this can be a challenge. You have probably noticed that as soon as you pour boiling water, it drops by a few degrees. Water for espresso needs to get from the water tank, through a heater, then to the portafilter at 200 degrees. Cheap machines tend to fail to do this without telling you. The result is lower quality espresso.

Another factor is heatup time. Some machines are designed to quickly heat small quantities of water for each shot. Machines with larger boilers take longer to heat up initially but hold more hot water for multiple shots. In both of these cases, water is heated quickly and efficiently, which isn't always true with cheaper brewers.

Pumps

Consistent hot water is one of the keys of brewing perfect espresso. Consistent pressure is the other big element. 9 BAR of pressure must be applied to the puck with the water in the portafilter. This pressure is what creates proper extraction. To brew good espresso, the pump must be able to quickly put out 9 BAR and sustain it through the brew process. Cheap machines offset this requirement by using pressurized portafilters. These portafilters have additional material in them to provide resistance. While some great machines do brew with pressurized filters, they generally still have consistent pumps. Cheaper machines lack this.

Case Material, Interface, Odds and Ends

Another core element of machine pricing is materials. It may seem obvious, but a shiny stainless steel machine just costs a lot more to produce than one made of plastic. While plastic isn't always a bad thing, it can be a factor for many users. Having that solid, metal case can be a major selling point. More important than the case though, is the inside. hoses, gaskets, and fittings made from solid, long lasting materials matter. Cheaper machines might use plastic on the inside of machines at common failure points. More expensive machines avoid this by using stronger metal and rubber.

Also important are things like controls. Does your machine have mechanical control elements like levers and dials? Or are you simple pushing a cheap feeling button for steam? This won't matter for some, but for others having that tactile control is important.

Finally, little odds and ends like cool touch steamwands, specific grouphead styles like E61, and three way solenoid valves may SEEM minor, but they can matter. E61 groupheads, for example, help hot water stay hot during brewing. There are a lot of seemingly small bullet points that really matter in the long run.

...And Much Much More!

Beyond everything here, there's so much more to talk about in the nitty gritty. Temperature controllers, plumbability, NSF certifications for commercial outlets, and even more! Trust us when we say, there's a lot that goes into upping your espresso game. It's worth it to do hard research on your new machine purpose to understand the cost. It'll help you end up with a generational machine for you to learn on instead of one you'll replace in a year or two.