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ACS Minima Beta Machines - creating list of people who want one

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acs beta minima
40K views 457 replies 36 participants last post by  Batian 
#1 ·
This post is on behalf of ACS. I was going to use the for sale thread, but I realise this thread will do. The development costs for the Minima have been significant and Beta machines are priced purely to recover a small portion of these costs. Retail prices will be significantly higher, so this is a one time shot. There are only 10 machines available.


The cost of a Beta unit will be £849 plus £20 contribution for airfreight to you (this may increase if your location has higher costs than normal UK locations). These costs all include VAT and are not negotiable. The warranty will be 2 years parts only.

There is a thread on the Minima https://coffeeforums.co.uk/showthread.php?43909-Beta-Testers-wanted-for-Minima it's a long thread and people have been expressing interest from quite early on. I have tried to keep track of those people, but the time has come to draw up a list of those who definitely wish to participate. The small software bug on steam temperature in the Gicar will be rectified, so the machines delivered should not have this bug....however, at this time consider the review information as something to base your decision on and I urge you to read it carefully.

https://wp.me/p7LpqI-6Z

If you want to participate please request it on this thread...I will draw up a short-list and contact you via pm with the information I need to forward to ACS....there is no rush to be first on this list the decision will be made based on the above "beta testers wanted for Minima thread" and your post on there. Just your forum name is required, do not post any personal information on this thread.

It is expected that beta testers will be willing to give feedback on the machine (good or bad), as people just trying to snag a cheap machine are not helping the development process. An area will be available on the ACS support forum for Beta testers to post about the machine and allow the designer to see how it is being received and ask questions of the beta testers, this area will be publicly viewable (not hidden) and you are welcome to cross post on here if you wish to.

P.S. If you have questions ask them on this https://coffeeforums.co.uk/showthread.php?43909-Beta-Testers-wanted-for-Minima thread not here. I will ask moderators to remove any posts here that are not people who wish to participate.
 
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#4 · (Edited by Moderator)
Yes please.

The videos in the review were an informative watch. I'd be delighted to provide beta feedback.
 
#5 ·
I'd still pay for the machine plus reasonable shipping to the U.S., but this is understandably something ACS does not want pursue. Now there's probably a tariff to deal with as well as shipping cost.
:yuk:
 
#6 ·
ncrc51 said:
I'd still pay for the machine plus reasonable shipping to the U.S., but this is understandably something ACS does not want pursue. Now there's probably a tariff to deal with as well as shipping cost.
:yuk:
I will ask them if they can make it happen as a special....no promises of course. I realise you have been in right from the beginning.
 
#7 ·
ncrc51 said:
I'd still pay for the machine plus reasonable shipping to the U.S., but this is understandably something ACS does not want pursue. Now there's probably a tariff to deal with as well as shipping cost.
:yuk:
I have one machine 120/60 that I could ship, let me check if I can ship or already reserved for one of our dealers in US. In any case I'll let you know also the shipping cost.

Paolo
 
#10 ·
***************UPDATE**********

There are actually only 5 UK spec machines available (the USA machine is not included in this 5). As 3 have already expressed interest on this thread in the 230/240V machines, this leaves 2 machines only. I have had an e-mail from someone yesterday, who is also interested, but advised them to post on this thread in the interests of transparency....If they do only 1 machine will remain.

Please remember these are Beta machines, so may have differences and Idiosyncrasies from production models. As always though I do have some news of things that are planned to happen for the Beta machines before you get them....the level of certainty will be indicated as a percentage.

1. Gicar are being asked to change the firmware to remove steam temperature display bug that is not actually usage affecting (95%)

2. Gicar are being asked to extend Last shot protection to include disabling service boiler autofill as well, so it works the same as a Vesuvius (70%)

3. Changes to the capillary tube for the brew pressure gauge to give a steadier needle, no guarantee it will be steadier. Yesterday my needle went from steady to quivering, I put it down to a too short capillary tube? may or may not stop the problem (100%)

4. Minor additions to the accessory kit (90%)

5. Possibility of adding some extra factory price accessories to the machine for perhaps an extra £10 (80%)

Sure it's not super detailed, but then this is the nature of Betas and the price more than reflects this.........
 
#13 ·
Instant no more ! said:
Hi I would like one if I can pay by credit card , I like the simple design and decades of use statment also being able to continue a shot without the machine cutting out if the tank level is low ,big capasity boiler sounds like a great design
:)
I have no idea about payments, the only thing I do know is it's a money transfer in Euros to a European bank...so I think you can use paypal/credit card, but I'm not sure (fees will be higher i think). Also it might be that your credit card can do a payment direct to a european bank....I don't know I don't use Credit cards very much. Hopefully ACS will see this post and advise.
 
#14 ·
Instant no more ! said:
Hi I would like one if I can pay by credit card , I like the simple design and decades of use statment also being able to continue a shot without the machine cutting out if the tank level is low ,big capasity boiler sounds like a great design
:)
FYI I used a credit card and transferwise.com to pay for the Vesuvius as they were much cheaper for forex than my bank.
:)
 
#16 ·
My bank fee on my Vesuvius was £9, but the exchange difference (loss) was about £70 (on a price of about £2400). There are 2 points at which you lose out on the exchange difference - the first is ACS's conversion from the £ price to the Euro price, the second is the bank exchange from £ in your bank account to pay the Euro price. This is probably the old-fashioned (and more costly!) way to do it (i.e. with my bank), so worth investigating the transferwise.com route as described by BaggaZee above, but presumably still 2 points at which the exchange difference bites. (I've got no complaints with these exchange losses. They are inevitable but they are small additional costs to be aware of on the euro transaction.)
 
#20 ·
errorOK..Update.

Please send me the following details by pm, I will organise the list and pass to ACS....they will then keep you informed directly about what to do re payments and when etc.. I don't really know anything about that. Remember the cost is £848 + £20 towards air shipping. VAT is included. It's around £400 or more less than it will cost at retail and reflects the fact it's a Beta.

The details I need pm to me (don't post it on the forum) are Name, Address, E-mail, ACS will use this to contact you and check that air shipping will indeed be only a £20 contribution

Until otherwise informed you MUST assume the beta machine https://coffeeequipmentreviews.wordpress.com/2018/08/04/acs-minima/ and supplied accessories will be as per the beta review review. Although there could be minor differences, such is the nature of Betas, but in all important aspects of operation, the machines will be the same. It's pretty much certain that everything below will happen...but from my own personal perspective, I can only speak for the particular unit I reviewed, so assuming none of it will happen is your safest bet and then you can be pleasantly surprised when it does..




1. Gicar are being asked to change the firmware to remove steam temperature display bug that is not actually usage affecting (95%)

2. Gicar are being asked to extend Last shot protection to include disabling service boiler autofill as well, so it works the same as a Vesuvius (70%)

3. Changes to the capillary tube for the brew pressure gauge to give a steadier needle, no guarantee it will be steadier. Yesterday my needle went from steady to quivering, I put it down to a too short capillary tube? may or may not stop the problem (100%)

4. Minor additions to the accessory kit (90%)

5. Possibility of adding some extra factory price accessories to the machine for perhaps an extra £10 (80%)

At the moment, my part in this is to ensure that the changes are done as required (I'll be using photo evidence), although I won't be able to test the Gicar revisions if/when done, you guys will be doing that. I can give guidance on how. I need to make sure they are clear on the accessories with a list (I've already done this). This Beta is important to ACS as your comments will shape the production version.

There are some future plans for the machine long term and if I get involved I will try and make sure they are backwards compatible for intrepid individuals who may want to fit them. The machine will always remain retro functionally and the core of the Minima may well form a range of future machines and variants. By the core I mean electronics, boilers piping group and pumps...Imagine that lot as a modular lump...a bit like the engine of a car. That bit works really well together and doesn't need testing....then everything else that surrounds it is the only thing that's new e.g.:

  • Colours
  • Materials
  • Simple Pressure Profiling
  • Shapes
  • Fittings
 
#22 ·
Banjoman said:
My bank fee on my Vesuvius was £9, but the exchange difference (loss) was about £70 (on a price of about £2400). There are 2 points at which you lose out on the exchange difference - the first is ACS's conversion from the £ price to the Euro price, the second is the bank exchange from £ in your bank account to pay the Euro price. This is probably the old-fashioned (and more costly!) way to do it (i.e. with my bank), so worth investigating the transferwise.com route as described by BaggaZee above, but presumably still 2 points at which the exchange difference bites. (I've got no complaints with these exchange losses. They are inevitable but they are small additional costs to be aware of on the euro transaction.)
Basically i make a conversion when i send the email, often not everybody have the same ammount, always small difference. The problem ( i think) is always that the banks or money transfer system have always 2 different rates if you sell or buy like in the airport. if you change 100 euro in GBP and than change again what you have received in Euro will never reach 100 euro. This is a paly system. I'm sorry but i think that from my side i cannot do more than offer our machines at very reasonable price for the forum users especially if compared with distributor price, also our after sales assistance to who have found problems with machines is very good, i'm afraid to not read too much about that, normally we definite and ship the parts in 24/48 hours. For any doubt i'm to your disposition.

Paolo
 
#24 ·
OK so far I have 4 confirmed who have pm'ed me details to pass on to ACS. There are 5 machines available, so one left for anyone else who wants to participate.

  • Rakesh
  • Rob1
  • Hasi
  • moots

@Instant no more! I have still not had any details from yourself....are you still interested?
 
#25 ·
Paolo_Cortese said:
yes it's possible, of course the lenght is different, the joystick is longer.

Paolo
That would be great, I'm interested in the possibility of doing a joystick conversion too.
 
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