Firstly I have to say that we loved the quality of coffee that came out of our Breville Bambino+, we still have that machine. However the Oracle has taken the coffee quality to a new level. As good as the Bambino+ is there are still many variables like tamping and frothing that can be inconsistent. The Oracle removes these inconsistencies.
We have loved the Oracle ever since it was demoed to us at the now defunct Breville Outlet store. At $1800 or so we were considering the machine as a good deal. Your Black Friday promotion and additional 10% incentive were unbeatable value. The refurbished machine is as good as new.
I have read the instructions and watched a couple of setting up videos. I have set the machine up to our preferred parameters and we are extremely happy with the results. Even some average coffee beans, not on purpose, have been able to be turned into a quite good pour with a couple of group head tricks that resulted in the thickening of the Crema. No way this could be done with a fully automatic machine.
I probably don't completely understand the programming of the long black options but the standard settings are suited to our cups anyway. No issues at all with the machine. It is brilliant and thank you for your follow up email.