As an 840XL owner, I'll report that while I'm grateful to own this as my first espresso machine (and especially so since it was a gift from my SO), if it broke tomorrow I would not be rushing out to buy another one.

The ease of use factor with the Breville has been nice, as well as the really quick warm up time. With a lot of care in regards to dosing, WDT and tamping I have been able to get reasonably consistent results with straight espresso. Rarely, however, have I been able to get milk steamed to my liking, though I can't say for sure if that's more due to the limitations of the machine or of my technique.

A friend of mine has had a Silvia for almost 10 years now - it makes great espresso, steams well and is built like a tank. Nick, if I had to buy a machine in the price range mentioned I'd go with a Silvia, then save some more for the PID upgrade if I couldn't swing that up front.

Thanks for all your replies guys!

After plenty of research, I just found one Classic Gaggia Year 2006, which was in great condition.

Since I'm quite an ethusiast I bought the Gaggia, disassembled it, cleaned it, did some minor mods, replaced all O-rings and and now I have great espresso machine for 250$, well under the budget

Thanks a lot!

Kind Regards,
Nick