Good machine with a few minor drawbacks

I bought this machine 5 years ago and since then I use it on a daily basis. It has given me much pleasure and I haven't run into any problems at all. I bought it together with an extra portafilter for using pods (more expensive, but very convenient).

Pro's:
- design (temperature indicator needs a lot of time to adjust, so it should be considered as decorative only)
- reliable (I can only say its construction is reasonably good and it works already 5 years without problems)
- easy-to-use, no complicated switches/options

Contra:
- cup holder does NOT get warm. This is a serious problem, since you can't drink espresso in cold cups since then the coffe will coll down immediately. I 'solved' this by putting hot water from the espressomachine itself into the cups and then wait for 20 seconds before actually making the espresso. When you want to make 5 espresso's in a row it takes quite some time.
- waterreservoir is at back side, and difficult to reach.
- making one espresso takes about 20 seconds. Other machines can do it in 10 seconds.

Recently I bought an espresso machine for my father and after some thinking I decided not to give him a Francis, but instead a "Gaggia classic espresso machine" because Gaggia solved the above drawbacks: The Gaggia's construction is stronger and more reliable, and its cup holder does get warm. Only I also discovered that the cups themselves only get warm if you leave the machine switched on the entire day and I don't do that so I still need the water pre-heating trick. The Gaggia is also fast: 10 seconds for 1 espresso.

My overall conclusion is that the Francis is a machine that gives me pleasure for already 5 years and of course, with any machine you will discover a few minor drawbacks after using it that long. Decide for yourself whether these drawbacks are really drawbacks.