Hi Cynthia,
What a great question, here, i’m only going to offer you my personal opinion, and I’d encourage others to share their experiences with machines here also. I really don’t like La Pavoni machines, i find they run quite hot which affects the coffee detrimentally. I haven’t had much luck with with parts for these machines but they may be more available in your parts. Aesthetically, I find them an unattractive machine. Are aesthetics important? In my experience, absolutely. What machines do I like at the moment? I love the black eagle which is being used in the world barista championships at the moment, I love the Kees van der Westen range, they make an amazing coffee and look seriously sexy. San Remo offer some great machines from middle of the range to their new state of the art Opera which look and perform amazingly well. There are so many more great brands i could suggest but these are the current favourites. Oh and La Marzocco is an amazing machine but perhaps too common now to create a decent point of difference. when it comes to the taste of the coffee the machine is important, the water is even more important (I strongly suggest reverse osmosis filtration with re mineralisation) and without a well trained and disciplined barista there is no way of providing a good tasting coffee to your customers.

I’m glad you stumbled upon it… If you have any other questions don’t hesitate to get in touch. Lets make the world a happier place, one latte at a time 🙂