Review on Cuisinart DCG 12BC Central Coffee Grinder by Reginald Sealy

This was purchased to replace a portable unit as we wanted it to be easy on the counter and easy to use. It looks great on the counter, especially next to a matching Cuisinart coffee maker. But it's messy and lacks many of the features of my $15 manual coffee grinder. Pour the grains into the grinding bowl, cover with a lid, then hold the button while it grinds. The grinding creates a small tornado of grist that rises up and out of the rim of the jar because the lid doesn't fit snugly against the top of the jar. As a result, 3/4 of the intended grind goes into the cup and 1/4 around the cup, both on the grinder and on the countertop around it. My manual coffee grinder contains ground coffee in a cup. This Cuisinart has no grind settings and only gives the recommended number of seconds to hold the button down to get the right consistency. My laptop allows you to choose the quality and quantity of the grist. I have a workaround for the mess: I use the included plastic lid to keep the beans fresh before grinding by tucking it tightly over the cup while grinding instead of using a regular coffee grinder lid. The problem with this solution is that the regular lid usually starts the grinder, so instead I have to stick a toothpick in the small hole in the front to make it work. This works, but it's not elegant at all and shouldn't be unnecessary. I would go back to the Pocket PC but it looks ugly on the counter, a little clunky and stupidly loud. The Cuisinart is quieter, albeit smaller with a plastic lid. Wouldn't recommend to anyone, probably wasted my money and still looking for something better.