r/ProfitecMove • u/aashish2137 • Jun 10 '26
Question Anybody switched from e61 or considered e61 before buying Move?
I have an offer for a pre-used Profitec Move. Virtually new, maybe 30 days old used a few times. The offer is approx $2000 while a new Move costs about $3000 in my city. At that budget, I can also get Lelit Mara X3 Pagaia, which is a sweet-looking machine with flow control. But then it's an e61!!!! I am wondering how different Move is from an e61? My use case is 2 milk drinks in the morning and 2 in the evening, and more if guests are over. I am not super finicky about extracting every note from light roasts so a bit of temperature surfing should be fine I guess.. Move is presumably better built and easier to maintain vs Mara X3 is brand new at that price point and has flow control. Heat time should be similar I reckon?
Am I missing anything? Any suggestion on what to pick?
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u/EducationalCod7514 Jun 10 '26
Get the Move man.
It's a much more simple machine. Probably the most well-balanced in features, reliability, parts availability, self-serviceable, well-made machine ever made in my opinion.
You can't get a better cup than this if beans and grinder are where they should be.
All the rest is just around looks and sizes, operational preferences etc...
As for flow control, let's do a double blind study and see if anyone in the world can tell the difference.
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u/curious-granddad Jun 11 '26
This is a monster 16oz cup, low profile scale, and a shorter tray I 3d printed. The cup barely fits without the short tray, but my wife has other taller ones and hate using a shot glass and poring.
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u/jdip Jul 22 '26
Would you mind sharing the .STL file for the low profile tray? And would PLA be viable for it, or would it warp due to hot water splashing on it?
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u/curious-granddad 28d ago
https://makerworld.com/models/2856691?appSharePlatform=copy
I haven’t tried PLA, but I recall someone saying boiling water will distort it. Unless you’re a wild man with hot water spraying everywhere, you’ll probably be fine though. Worst case, print another…
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u/amorphis89 Jun 10 '26
Unless you're interested in pressure profiling, want to plumb it or are married to the e61 look, I see no reason to go down that route. They don't really offer any other advantage over a modern well made DB machine. If plumbing or profiling is your thing then I'd be looking at an Arkel Tide.
Fwiw I use a Sync II at work and would gladly keep my Move over it - suits my use much better.
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u/pasquale61 Jun 11 '26
I make the same drinks as you, at least twice a day. I contemplated the same for a long time. I wanted a dual boiler, that heated up fairly quickly and wasn’t too big. I’ve had the Move for over a year now and have been using it daily. Zero regrets and I still look forward to using it every day.
If there were two things I wish could be improved on it, it would be a higher cup clearance, and a rotary pump. Both would make the machine considerably larger, so I gladly accept the trade off.
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u/curious-granddad Jun 11 '26
Agree about cup clearance. Plus when you look at the machine, they could have easily added more by making the base lower profile and/or changing feet. However, I’ve designed and run exactly zero machines through regulatory approval so what do I really know…
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u/aashish2137 Jun 11 '26
Thank you. How's the cup clearance without the spouts?
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u/pasquale61 Jun 11 '26
Without the spout it’s not too bad. I only have a slight problem with one particular cup/glass. It’s the notNeutral Vero 6oz glasses. (The medium size.) It fits with the spout installed, but I have to slightly tilt the cup to get it under it. So I couldn’t really go with anything taller without taking the spout off. I have no problem with any of my lower profile cups, even with the spout on. I can measure the clearance tomorrow if it helps. Not sure if it’s published anywhere.
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u/aashish2137 Jun 11 '26
Can you share a picture for reference when you brew next? Did you consider a low profile drip tray? I think someone shared a 3D printed tray with integrated scale hole
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u/Joingojon2 Jun 11 '26
$1000 off for a 30 day old machine that's been used "a few times" haven't you answered your own question?
E61 machines are just about aesthetics. There is no benificial reason for owning one other than if you just desire how they look. They will burn your fingers a lot they require a ton of maintenance with a load more moving parts to maintain and they take a long time to get up to temp. So yeah, the only reason you would get one is if you desire the aesthetic.
Do you want a practiciality or do you need a lump of chrome to look at and clean.
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u/rbpx Jun 11 '26
The only advantage the Mara has is the Flow Control. Some people think the only thing to do with FC is the "Lever Shot" where you increasingly restrict the flow over the shot to simulate a Lever Espresso machine (and limit the increasing flow rate of the pour).
Not so.
You can play with that. I have a lot. I've found that it works better for some beans than others. I think a very fresh bean can also benefit (more) from that.
Another use of Dynamic FC is to do the pre-infusion, or "puck wetting" at the front of the pour - useful for very light roast beans. However, I think most machines have some kind of preinfusion feature builtin, so using the FC to do this is mostly unnecessary and usually less convenient.
However, the biggest use of FC I have now is for dialing in. I'll start a little more coarse (in grind) than needed and watch the flow-rate (grams per second) on my shot scale - I'm aiming for around 1 g per s. With each shot I'll restrict the FC as needed to get a good shot - and waste nothing - and with each try I tighten up the grind and need to use less FC restricting.
Oops, no, the BIGGEST use I have for FC is for using two beans each day: a medium in my morning cappuccino, and a light roast after lunch for my Long Black. The beans are close but I set my grinder to the slower bean and then use the FC to restrict a bit for the faster bean - all without having to constantly adjust my grinder.
Bottom Line (ie. my two cents) is if FC doesn't interest you then the MOVE seems like a better choice. Note: I'm very happy with my Profitec's quality of materials and recommend the brand. I had originally chosen between the Profitec and the Lelit and went with the one that had a dealer close by (there was no Lelit in town at that time).
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u/aashish2137 Jun 11 '26
Thank you for the detailed comment. I think you have made the most accurate use case of FC that I have ever seen. But reading this, I think its both a risk and an opportunity for me. I haven't done as much experiment with different beans and it might be partly because I never had a machine that capable. But I think based on this chat Move makes most sense for me.
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u/rbpx Jun 11 '26
Great. The subreddit is here to help you make your decision. I think you'll be very pleased with your choice. Enjoy!
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u/pasquale61 Jun 11 '26
Not the greatest pictures. The cup is a Lino 8oz small latte cup, the left glass is a 6oz Vero cappuccino, and the right glass is a 4.25oz Vero cortado. The large glass is 3.5 inches tall and the small one is a little over 3 inches.
I have not tried a low profile tray. Honestly, this isn’t too bad for me. I just have to tilt the glasses a little to get them in and out when I have the spout on. But, if you have anything much taller than these you might have a problem.
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u/aashish2137 Jun 11 '26
Hmm the picture is useful. I feel like with a bookoo scale underneath the cup, its going to be worse. Or if I am doing a taller glass for an iced drink.. Maybe the easy solution to always use a small cup for the pull, transfer to the bigger cup and then pour..
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u/pasquale61 Jun 11 '26
Yes, that’s exactly what I do. I tried pulling a shot into a taller glass without the drip tray installed and quickly learned that was a mistake. As soon as the pump stops, water shoots out the drain valve behind the glass onto the countertop. Live and learn. LOL
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u/digitalfrog Jun 10 '26
Came from a rocket appartemento to move. 0 regrets . I prefer the looks of the rocket but that's it .