Ok it has been a week for me on here, reading diligently and trying to learn terminology. It seems as most people hate Super Autos and bad mouth anything that doesnt make the perfect espresso and is less than a 1000$. I understand passion, but I am just starting out. Not to mention Grad School is expensive. I like the ease of use of the Super Auto, and time saving issue. My main problem is my wife would never learn how to use a semi auto and grinder so I would be only person making drinks all the time. I would like to stop spending 10$ a day at Starbucks. I dont drink espresso that much, I like a good crema coffee or cappuccino. At this point anything would be a step up from my Hamilton Beach Brew Station. I am looking at buying a refurb, or any machine that is around 1000. Jura F7, ENA 4,5, Saeco Talea Giro. As I learn more and make more money I would love to pull my own and buy all of the components at home.

Welcome to Home Barista!

This post from a couple of weeks ago could probably answer most of your questions.

I haven't read anyone on in these forums bad-mouthing a machine just because it was under $1000. Au contraire. One of the most popular machines around, the Rancilio Silvia, is only about $600 and many people refurbish used machines that cost much, much less.

Believe me I understand all of that. I have never had great espresso then. My parents have a Jura S9 Capresso, and I love what comes out of it. With that being said I will not be the only one to use the machine, and it will brew for 3 people under our roof that all have different taste in coffee. I am just not at a point in my life where I have the time to tamp and pull my own as a rookie and get good results. Especially with what I have read about the Rancilio and its unfriendliness at times. Like I said anything is 10 steps above what I am using at home now, I dont even own a grinder, I am so ashamed.

I have a super-auto (a Jura-Capresso J5). I'm not sure if it was my answer that Roman was linking to, but I'll risk repeating myself: The super-auto has its place, IMHO, but it's a very small and cramped place.

They are extremely convenient.
They produce mediocre espresso (and somewhat better coffee crema, usually).
They are reasonably consistent, with the occasional very nice shot and the occasional (rare) sink shot.
They are absolutely not cost effective compared to a separate grinder and semi-auto.
More expensive going up a given super-auto line generally means better milk steaming, not better coffee.
They require meticulous attention to cleaning to stay at their best.
They require quality beans. (Well, any preparation method does, but the super seems to bring out the worst in bad beans. That might be my imagination though.)
They are generally hard or impossible to fix when they break. (Other than sending them away.)

The super-auto's strength (do-it-all convenience) is also its weakness (no way to improve distribution and tamp, grinders have insufficient adjustment range). You can usually tweak the machine, in the J5 case enough to move the output from blah to good-enough (YMMV), but you can't make any serious changes.

I feel that the J5 makes better morning coffee than the old Capresso grind-and-drip machine that we had. If I really want to savor a cup, though, I'll generally use the Aeropress. Someday I may get myself a grinder and semi-auto, but the J5 will remain, and will probably continue to make the morning cup. And, if I had had to pay full list price for mine, I wouldn't own one.

(note: I don't do milk drinks, so I can't comment on how good or bad the steaming on the J5 is. Milk features do vary a lot across models though.)

A third vote the aeropress which would have been my stealth weapon if it existed when I was in grad school. For coffee, it blows drip out of the water if have a good hot (HOT HOT 180-200F) water source. ~$30 for the aeropress, get a reasonable burr (not whirly blade) grinder and then invest the rest of your money mail ordering great coffee beans from a number of great artisan roasters out there. Most of the hot water coolers in schools produce hot enough water. The aeropress makes a very strong extraction full of flavor that many consider equivalent to espresso in taste...you filter the crema out so not quite.

I've actually never used a super-auto but investing in one is usually a commitment to have it repaired at some point is what I have heard from my friends that have them (I know someone who keeps 2 around to rotate while one is in the shop). Usually the semi-autos are built better. Many also can use pods which might be a quicker process than tamping and grinding etc but then freshness will limit your success.

You might also consider a separate stovetop milk steamer. I've read they work quite well and are not terribly expensive. Then, for your milk drinks, you could start with an aeropress or a Bialetta Moka (both of which will make very nice, concentrated coffee), add the steamed milk and everyone would be happy. I'm sure it would taste better than what comes out of many superautos. Not to mention more reliable. Almost everyone I know or have heard of that has a superauto has had breakdown issues within a few years.

Thanks for the info everyone. I have looked into the Aeropress, and may do that for work where they have Flavia Machine now, blecchh. I want a Super Auto for Home, just to take the next step for me, and to get my wife to give up her flavored creamers and try a decent cup of coffee. My visions of Expobar Brewtus and Mazzer Mini combo will have to wait until after law school

My company switched to a Flavia machine a few months ago. I now find that for those few times I'm in the office I drink tea rather than coffee because I can't stand what comes out of the packets.

As far as espresso goes, some friends went the super-auto route before I went down the espresso path. They like the convenience but all of the coffee I've had from it (they use Lavazza beans) have been lackluster compared to what I've had at even the most mundane cafes. I chose a double boiler (S1VII) as my first machine because I wanted some stability and also to forestall upgraditis (although a paddle GS3 is really enticing) for quite a while.

As far as quality vs ease of use, I can only state that within the realm of good, fast (easy), and cheap; only two can be selected. A very expensive super-auto can make decent espresso drinks but they tend to be well outside the realm of most consumers; often more than the cost of a high end prosumer semi- or full-automatic such as the GS3. The lowe-priced super-autos tend to make just mediocre drinks.

That being said, if one's palate can't tell the difference and/or doesn't matter, a super-auto could be a path to consistent drinks. I, however, think most of us here are striving for methods of extracting the best shot out of the beans possible so we all tend to shy away from the super autos since they take control out of our hands.