Maybe some day I will really get into espresso and get $3000 machines and $1000 grinders, but who knows.
If you are even vaguely into fixing things, a degree of patience will save you a lot of money.
I’ve got an addiction to Mazzer grinders. Second hand they are cheap and the more beat up the better as it reduces the price and they are basically bulletproof. I pull them down, respray and add any parts I want.
Ex cafe equipment is cheaper as people don’t want large grinders. The Super Jolly hits a good spot between size, quality and price.
I like the Major and Robur - air cooled too. Overheating with 6-8 coffee a day will never happen, but the ventilation slots look so good!
Would also recommend finding a nice decaf bean if you are one whom caffeine affects easily. Now I can (did) have 3 great coffees a day instead of 1.
https://gaggiuino.github.io/#/
Spent a few months fixated on coffee machines. Went deep. Gaggiuino give you equivalent machine value of $3k machine for under $1k aud.
Coffee is ripe for disruption on a hardware end of town. So much over priced 30-50 year old tech w/ at most a pid or Arduino/esp level of grunt computer behind it. It's absurd.