BLACK+DECKER DCM18S Brew ‘n Go Personal Coffeemaker with Travel Mug, Black/Stainless Steel

My wife had gotten into the habit of going to the local convenience store (Turkey Hill) and spending $1.50/day for her morning jolt. Well, I felt that was a bit much. We went away for a B&B weekend and they had the fancy Keurig brewer with the neato K-cups. I don't drink coffee but she does. "We NEED this!!!!" she tells me (which is her way of saying, "Buy this for me today, or else...").So I went to amazon.com to look at the cost. $100+!!! Not acceptable. So I poked around and found the Brew `n Go. At about 1/4 the price, I thought it would be a better option. Plus, you can always return it to Amazon if dissatisfied.Got it and now use it daily. It is SO simple and has many great features. First off, NO MORE PAPER FILTERS. The plastic insert has a special plastic membrane that holds the coffee and keeps the grinds out of the cup. Second, the water reservoir feeds the water into a cover that closes over the top of the coffee grinds. It has about 9 holes, so the water drips through ALL the grinds, not just the center. Third, you're done in under three minutes (no kidding) start to finish. If you need to read the instructions on how to use this most basic machine, then you shouldn't be allowed to drive or use a knife because you're probably a danger to society. Fourth, the travel mug is great because you brew it right into the mug, pop the lid on, and off to work you go without spills.When you get right down to it, it's the coffee grinds that make the coffee taste good, not the fancy apparatus that holds them. Of course, my wife liked the K-cups and all their fancy flavors. Solution? Buy the K-cups, cut a hole in the foil top, and pour out the grinds into the B&D plastic holder. Voila! Keurig coffee from a less expensive machine. Of course, many grocery stores now sell dozens of flavors you can grind yourself, so I don't think K-cups are needed. But when your wife wants something...K-cups are pretty expensive at 60 cents/serving, but I found them online for 50, which is more reasonable. Of course, if you like Maxwell House or other store bought stuff, it will be MUCH cheaper.With the Keurig, you HAVE to use the K-cups (the design is pretty neat actually). However, you can pop out the K-cup holder (not so easy) and put in a plastic filter insert similar to the B&D one. However, this insert costs $20 at Bed Bath & Beyond, which is what my Brew 'n Go unit costs for the whole thing.I've read the other reviews, and all the comments that are negative reflect improper use of the product in my opinion. For a fast, easy to use, simple machine, this is the one you want. Unless, of course, you want to pay $100, and want to pop out the K-cup holder and insert an expensive insert so you can use your own coffee. In which case, by all means, buy the Keurig. But I guarantee the coffee won't be any better than the B&D Brew `n Go. It's water going through coffee people. This is not neurosurgery.Now, I know the Keurig has the choice of Small or Large cup. The B&D uses as much water as you want (and water is basically free). So, we always fill the travel mug with tap water, then pour it into the water reservoir. When it's done brewing, it automatically shuts off (it knows when the water tank is empty). If you want to drink less coffee, either 1) pour some out (duh!) or 2) stop before you can see the bottom of the mug! Why anybody needs to pay extra for a button to do what you can easily do yourself is beyond me.If you want the coffee weaker, guess what? Use FEWER grinds!! Stronger? Add MORE grinds. Another useless Keurig button on the fancy models.By the way. I DID buy paper filters to see if it made a difference. It did not, so when the box was empty, I didn't buy replacements. And I bet you won't either.Update 3/19/10I got one for my mother, who is incapable of using cruise control or a remote control (get the picture???). Well, she LOVES it and has had no problems using it once I spent five minutes instructing her on how to add water and coffee grinds. Best of all, no 6 am calls with "Rob, what am I supposed to do with the thingamajig whatzitcalled part that doesn't seem to fit??" because it has precisely two parts and they go in ONLY one place and in one direction. This is as foolproof as it gets. And even she learned that for stronger coffee just add more coffee grinds! If you like a single cup of coffee in under three minutes, then this is the best machine around. If you're having a dinner party with 20 guests, you're out of luck (but then again, that's not what this is advertised to do). REPEAT: This is for ONE cup at a time, although it makes cups so quickly that we have served four guests after dinner with no difficulty whatsoever. This was the answer to my wife's coffee prayers, and remains so after one year. Try to beat that at this ridiculously low price point.

This is the fifth Black and Decker Personal coffee maker I have purchased in the past 10 years. They usually last for about 2 years so it is a great value. I find that over time the heating element eventually dies. It does not happen slowly, it happens in an instant. It is not a safety hazard though it just stops working. So I always keep a second one on hand in the box for when the one I am currently using dies. I never use the Black and Decker mugs because I drink my coffee at home and never on my commute so I just donate the mugs. So I cannot comment on the quality of the mug or if it makes the coffee taste strange. I can only commet on the coffee maker itself. It is awesome. It is super easy to use. I love Maxwell House and even if I have family staying over I can make them personal cups of flavored coffee they enjoy that I do not. I have never had anyone say that the coffee tasted bad or was not too hot. On the contrary, everyone loves this coffee maker and my neighbors and family have actually purchased one themselves after trying mine. I personally think this makes a better cup of coffee than my larger coffee maker which is a top of the line Cuisinart. This Black and Decker produces coffee that is very hot, it is always brewed perfectly and it is so easy to clean up. The filter works extremely well and is easy to dump the grounds into the trash and then just run it under water and it cleans up quickly without any mess. You just have to wait until the filter area cools off from the hot water than runs through it. I also have never had coffee grounds in my coffee because if you measure it as per the instructions you will not ever overflow the filter. I think anyone who gives this a bad review did not read the instructions that come with the product. This is a superior personal coffee maker and you should never have to use a secondary filter in addition to the permanent filter. I highly recommend this versus any Pod system. Just measure per the instructions and you will have the best mug of coffee and at the best price on the market. It takes only a couple of minutes, so it is also super quick. It also has a very small footprint so it does not take up a lot of space on the counter top and it is easy to store too in a drawer or under the sink because it is not very tall either. It also accomodates a multitude of mug sizes. Again though you need to measure your coffee and water per the instructions to ensure there is not an overflow and that the coffee to water ratio is correct to produce an excellent cup of coffee.

I bought one of these in 1994-95, and used it twice a day ever since. The original is still working, but when I saw this in a "warehouse deal" at half price, I decided to buy it as a replacement. Like "dog years," 25 is "old age" for my original machine. Black and Decker offer several single-cup brewers. This has a metal "thermos"-type mug with a tight-fitting lid and a Handle! This means no hot plate and no worry about accidental burns. It uses an extremely fine metal mesh (gold-plated, I think) cone filter. Some say there's no difference between basket filters and cone filters. I've had better luck with cone filters, and I know is that this machine makes excellent coffee. And the coffee is Hot! Not "sort-of" hot, but steaming hot and an excellent brew. The insulated mug keeps it up to temperature for over an hour. I'm cleaning the old unit and keeping it as a spare, except for the mug. These mugs are an ideal size - not tall and tippy, and enough capacity to satisfy without wasting. One bonus of this mug is that the tapered bottom end fits well in most automobile cup holders with no rocking or tipping. For some reason, the regular price for these is quite high on Amazon's Canadian site, but at the sale price, an excellent bargain. I think my first unit cost $12-$13 in 1995, which works out to 50 cents a year - and it's still going strong. The new machine seems to be of the same high quality, so I'm confident that it will be making my 1st cup of the day long after I retire. These are a really good machine - well made, easy to clean, compact. I've seen or tried other 1-cup drip brewers by brands that didn't come close to this level of quality - they made lukewarm, muddy coffee, were hard to clean, or bits fell off. None of that here, and most important of all, it makes an excellent cup of hot coffee.

Works as intended and brews better coffee than my Tassimo. I'm guessing this is because I can actually press the grounds down, whereas in a Tassimo cup they're a bit loose. No more watery coffee. As the only coffee drinker, this is great. No issues so far. If you're looking for something basic, is affordable, and makes a single cup, this might be what you're looking for.

Súper calienta muy bien al agua y el café sale rapidísimo pero derrama se van un par de granillos de cafe

Great value for money. If all you want is a reliable, decent, one-cup coffee maker on the cheap, this is it. No frills but that's why it lasts years when fancier gadgets break down. Downside: sometimes when filling it with water, the water inexplicably goes straight through the pipes and drips before you've even turned it on. It's a problem that also plagued its predecessor model, which we owned.

Owning a lack & Decker Brew n' Go Coffeemaker makes life alot more enjoyable. It is easy to use and reliable. It makes a great cup of coffee every time. The service and delivery was superb. Thank you. Ariane Eckardt