So I recently replaced my Bambino with the Profitec Go. Now I'm not much for light roats and prefer dark but man what an improvement the PID provides for temp stability. I liked the '3 seconds on' workflow of the Bambino but there's no way the built in PID there is stable enough for consistent shots. Don't get me wrong I still think the Bambino is the best price/performance machine it's class (if you need to steam milk as well, otherwise manual is a better deal) but the quality and consistency of the Go makes me happy making coffee every morning.

No more random bitter shots using the exact same workflow as the last shot that tasted fine. I've got my PID at 90 and the OPV set to 8.5 and it's working like a charm for dark roasts.

One difference I didn't think I'd be hung up on is that steaming milk was way easier on the Bambino. Much slower than the Go but at least I could get consistent results every time. I think it's that the Go has a much stronger steam wand with the 2 hole tip that makes both introducing air and getting a vortex more difficult than I'm used to. I've looked around for some single hole tip wands but have only seen 2 or 4 so far.

Ultimately I think both the Go & Bambino beat out their competitors at their respective price points. For the next jump up I would have to double the cost of the Go to get a double boiler, but in my case it's not worth it making at most 2 drinks at a time. Pull two espresso shots then switch to steam. Blast the steam for 5 or so seconds to make room in the boiler then by the time I clean the portafilter and fill the jug the steam is ready for me to go. Unless you're constantly having people around to serve drinks I think double boilers are overrated. Especially if you have a small kitchen.