I seem to remember the old rule about dosing coffee for drip brewing..."one per cup, one for the pot". So it makes sense that 3 scoops for 2 cups tastes better.
I'm interested to hear from others who know about drip coffee...but 150-160 degrees F seems kind of cool. The ideal temp for espresso is 201 F (no kidding...201, not 202, or 200...201!).
As far as talking about drip on an Espresso thread...what the heck, you're a good guy...I guess I won't PM all the regulars to attack you!
My temperature comparison came from video's and articles on latte making. For a latte the ideal temperature for the milk is between 140F and 160F. Regardless of latte or regular espresso, my De'Longhi only gets up to 160F.
After I finished my cup a few minutes ago I re-thought my "perfect" temperature statements and recalled another video on drip coffee I saw the other day where they were measuring between 200F and 220F and thought that this Hamilton Beach brews the coffee a tad bit cool. It doesn't take long for it to cool down after being in my cup. So in that respect I think I am a little disappointed in this machine.