Prior to owning my first eureka atom, i thought id never want or need a better grinder. it turned out though that, when i bought one of these for decaf, i preferred it so much more that i felt a desire to use it all of the time. in my home, i liked that it retained far less grounds than the doser hopper on my mazzer mini, and the atom made far less mess, to my surprise. its dosing repeatability and accuracy made my espresso much more consistent and repeatable and it was much easier to dial in changes as the beans dried out over the week or 2 that it took for me to consume a lb. this made the over all experience with the atom so good that i sought to use it for every coffee i produced. it turned out that the low retention of this type of grinder benefited my caf as well as my decaf, as even a days retention of grounds led to changes in espresso extraction rate and flavour. furthermore, the quietness and pleasant sound of the atom made all other grinders seem noisy and clumsy, whereas this one - though lighter weight and containing more plastic in its construction, felt more precise, faster, quieter and higher performance. it turns out the selective use of plastic and other sound isolation techniques is what makes this grinder so quiet. i was concerned that maybe, without a grounds tray, it would be messy, but it is actualy less messy than my mazer mini. few grounds on the counter make a simple wipe-down all that is needed. the basket for coffee drips is nice too - though changing settings means dialing in for espresso again will cause a little wasted coffee. if you needed a one-does-it-all grinder though, this would be it. i simply make americano when i want a standard cup and leave it setup for espresso all the time. the colour and finish is good and the user experience fantastic. options to dim the screen and reset the counter are nice, and the portafilter light is great, even in bright day light. when the grind is pushed too fine a little clumping occurs, and the speed slows down, but this is generally a sign that it is too fine for espresso. i found dialing in the grind for the mazer faster, but the atom easier to make small adjustments to as the shot times start to lengthen or shorten based on your hopper refills. true, the hopper likes to be half full or better, so i suggest a good airtight container for your beans, so you can top it up as the hopper gets low. when the hopper is less than half full it feeds a little less smoothly, but this may be part due to the hopper design and the impeller on the burr. i would leave it though, and just acknowledge it as an attribute of the atoms character. it feeds well, but when full, it feeds best. the hopper seems smaller than the stats may suggest. it seems to just hold 1 lb, from empty - meaning 1lb bags used to refill a half or 1/3 full hopper, will require some airtight bean storage for the last half of your bag. if you use 350g boutique bags you're likely clear to refill with full bags at a time. all things considered, id recommend this grinder, the compak or the ceado based on your budget and feature needs, and just enjoy it . my only concern is whether 60mm replacement burrs will be easy to find 10 years from now, or 20, or 30 - as the mazzer burrs are always easy to acquire. i wish the back of the atom had a nicer Cast eureka emblem/branding badge, as the brand sticker seem cheap compared to mazzers gorgeous emblem. if eureka released a badge, id use it. these badges give the final machine an elegance on the bar. the atom is heavy and has mist of its weight to the rear. it is lighter than the mazzer. the portafilter forks on the atom are easy to remove and replace without tools, but i wish it was made with a finer cast and polished metal, rather than the imprecise and sharp nature of stamped-folded steel. a firmer retention mechanism would keep it from shifting under use. still, the portafilter is held well in place. the atom is nice and narrow, making its placement on the counter easier. i might slightly prefer the ceado, but its size, added cost and overall suitability for the home are edged out by the atom which provides a better overall value with extremely comparable performance. the ceado and mazzer are maybe ever-so slightly more impressive in build but you wont find yourself dissapointed in the weight and quality of build in the atom. if you have a few extra hundred dollars and a keener eye a ceado might be more thrilling, but its a 50-50 which one you might prefer. the Atom is super quiet and performs like s finely tuned sports car. its easy tonmake any kimd of adjustment to, and overall - i doubt i could say it was missing anything. A third grind time setting would be nice, to allow 15, 18 and 21g doses to be programmed. the compak does this, but is not as quiet. tough cal between the three. if your looking for a doserless timed grinder you have a tough call to make. a few little advantages to one over the other means no one is perfect. if only i could design one myself.