I have owned 4 drip coffee makers

(USA, North Carolina)

I've been through four of them, all drip coffee makers.

The first was the absolute best, but regretfully I no longer have the model. That one lasted just shy of seven years and otherwise was pretty standard in it's features--clock and timed start. And by far my favorite for it's sheer stability. It also had a little strength setting on the top, something I never figured out. It seemed to make no difference and I changed strength by using more or less grounds.

After that my sister had given me a replacement which was the odd one out of the bunch. It was the only one that wasn't 12 cups (was eight, or maybe ten) and the only one using a thermos and cone filter instead of basket. The thermos was interesting to keep it hot without reapplying heat--which makes the coffee taste rather bad after a while. It also had a little water filter on it that I didn't notice any particular difference with. Likely for hard sediment, I thought. I currently use a filter simply to get the chemicals out of the tap water for coffee which would otherwise taste like dish water. That one was not as stout as the one before and the only thing I didn't like about it. It quit working and I suspect either a circuit inside got wet or it's constant fidgeting around on/off in the power socket (something was wrong with that particular one that required anything be perfectly in or wouldn't work).

Past that to another 12 cup maker that quit working again after three months. It just suddenly quit pumping water.

And the current one, again 12 cup basket, that was an intentionally a cheap model. Some Walmart brand that costed about $10. Has only an on/off switch and the rationale behind this being I fully expect this one to again give out on me in less than a year. I never really used the timer and it's really hard to get excited about spending more if I expect the thing to break. A few design quirks here and there with that one, though I fully expect it in a cheap model. It had a hole in the back for water over 12 cups to seep from which just screams electric hazard to me, so it's snugly set on a baking sheet just in case. Also interesting was that the pump that goes over the grounds was not attached at all to the top. Likely so that you wouldn't scold yourself on it, but I found it to be a little annoying as to put the filter in you have to move the pump out of the way. It's designed to turn from centered on the grounds to back over the water basin to drip any runoff right back in the tank.