Rancilio Silvia
I think James Hoffman put it perfectly when he said that having an espresso machine at home is more for the espresso hobbyist, not the latte addict. Dialing in espresso can be a painstakingly long process and in the wrong setting can produce a lot of wasted product. If you don't dial in your shots, I suppose it's fine as long as you are happy with the results. But owning a home espresso machine and not dialing in is similar to owning a convertible and only driving it with the top up. You aren't unlocking it's full purpose and true potential.
Now this is NOT about persuading you against a home machine, rather it's about gauging your intentions. To me, there is no better at-home machine under $800 than the Rancilio Silvia. It works for espresso enthusiasts (like myself) and it is straightforward enough for the person who just wants the option to plug & play, with the intention to slowly dive deeper. It isn't full of bells and whistles, it isn't the most elegant, but what it lacks in those departments it makes up for in its sheer horsepower. Rancilio didn't create a home machine, rather they took parts from their commercial line and shoved them into a small, single boiler machine with a full-sized 58mm Portafilter and more-than-capable steam wand.
The Silvia allows you to dabble with espresso dosing and weighted/timed output with it's simple "on/off" brew switch. The steam wand, however, has a manual knob that allows you to open it up a little or a lot. It also has a small footprint, in part to combining the steam wand and hot-water dispenser into the same hardware. The passive cup heater above fits 2-3 standard mugs perfectly, or roughly 6 demitasse cups unstacked. It has a removable water tank that you can access from the top.
This machine isn't in it to wow you with frills and auto-steam-auto-clean features.Rather it is here to be a great hobby espresso machine that blurs the line between consumer and professional- perfectly falling into the pro-sumer category. Pair it with a decent grinder, and you're set. Want to dive deeper into extraction and distribution? Pick up the bottomless portafilter and upgrade it with the optional PID-controller to max this machine out.
The Rancilio Silvia (Actually called the Miss Silvia) was originally created as a gift to Rancilio's commercial customers. It was created in 1998 and not available for purchase. Eventually, it became so popular that Rancilio began to sell it to consumers. It is now on it's 5th iteration, though it remains relatively unchanged from the original in design.