Machines with PID are not that far out of your price range. Additionally, those bells and whistles like the on/of timer and shot clock timer, those are easily managed through getting a WeMo Switch (allows you to turn on the machine through your phone from anywhere is pretty neat) and just a regular digital timer. I wouldn't focus on the little things, especially if you're not completely interested in the plastics or look of the breville.

I loved my BDB, but one thing to know is that, compared with higher end dual boiler or HX machines, its steaming performance is somewhat anemic. It was fine for my use, but I mainly made Italian-sized cappuccinos and macchiattos. A giant latte would take a long time to steam. Just something for you to think about.

My own experience was driven, in large part, by disappointment in what I started receiving as a latte at local coffee shops. Early on I'd get a pretty good drink. All of a sudden - not so good. I watched and discovered the reason was primarily all the shops had converted to super automatic machines. So, I spent time here and discovered more about coffee, espresso, steamed milk, etc. My first attempt at doing this on my own was with a Gaggia Baby Twin and a Gaggia MDF grinder. I could make good drinks with that combination but not consistently - the thermoblock often let me down - especially after making a couple of drinks. Also, I was not making drinks the size of your preferences. After about a year, I decided to step it up. I bought a used 63 mm flat burr grinder for $220 on e-bay, and installed new burrs. Then I bought a new Mini-Vivaldi, twin boiler espresso machine. That combination was almost perfect. When later I added a Compak K10 Pro Barista grinder (also a used one from e-bay) I felt like I had achieved perfection.

You have already got a lot of good advice. My own experience colors my advice. It is to decide what you want in terms of a good grinder and a good double boiler espresso machine and then watch the forums and e-bay for deals on each. They come up regularly but require some patience.

filteredsoul wrote:I've been soaking up all the info I can find about home espresso, and I'm finding out that my wife and I are the typical American latte lovers... 12 to 16 oz of milk per drink... and if we're talking st*rbucks language, whatever a "venti" is...

Venti is 20oz. Venti is Italian for 20.

filteredsoul wrote:I thought the Rancilio Silvia (typical) with the prerequisite high-quality grinder would be my starting point, but because of the large quantity of milk we would be steaming/frothing I'm second-guessing my decision.

No one currently recommends the Silvia. It's at the expensive end of the single boiler range and you're really not getting anything extra for the money spent on it. If you're steaming that much milk you definitely want to go HX or DB. You may find that you like less milk when you have good espresso.

Definitely do not leave your grinder as an afterthought. It has already been stated above but the grinder is very important.

filteredsoul wrote:but as is the case with most newbies, the up-front cost is a little hard to justify.

Think of it this way: How much are you spending at coffee shops for those 2 drinks every day? Consider how quickly that adds up over a week, month and even a year.

filteredsoul wrote:I really like the Expobar. The "lever" isn't like the typical lever espresso machine is it?

No -- Lever is just the model name. It's not a lever machine. It's a semi-auto.

brianl wrote:Almost everyone that I talk to starts with the big milk drinks but eventually ends up settling on espresso.

I was never into big milk drinks but I started out a latte drinker and remain a latte drinker. I use less milk than when I started but I wasn't starting off with Starbucks sized lattes.