I have the Ascaso Uno PID for it’s through-flow heater. There is virtually no heat up time needed so you can get an espresso when you want. I was aiming for a machine that allows me to be lazy and short-sighted and the Uno delivers that for me. I use it at least once a day but of course you have to decide if the investment into machine and grinder of around 1,4-2k$ is worth it for you. It is for me but I treat it as a hobby. You definitely need some time to tune in the grind setting, temperature, pressure and bean. But once you have your settings you usually only need to change the grind setting for each bean. I would go with an automatic burr grinder for consistency and ease of use since you sometimes have to redo a shot.