Hello Hovav,
Here's a link to an industrial engineer who now builds really nice espresso machines that are lusted after by many:
www.keesvanderwesten.com - maybe he'd be willing to chat with you - he's a helluva nice guy
This link is for the ever important grinder:
www.versalab.com/server/coffee/grinder.html - what I remember about this when it was grinding was that beans were flying out - they need to stay inside
Nice to see the focus on the "prosumer" - which also means pro-quality (not necessary to keep up with quantity) at an "affordable" price. What would be superbly impressive is getting the espresso machine in the sub-€1000 and the grinder in the sub-€500 price range
I'd like a machine that is:
- easy to adjust brew temperature (that is, temp where the water hits the coffee and not in the boiler)
- easy to adjust brew pressure
- ability to control above to remain #1 constant and #2 (a nice to have) "scalable" for experimentation purposes
- oh so easy to clean
- oh so easy to replace parts (eventually) or even upgrade parts when improved versions of bits are released
- not too loud, nice quiet almost-stealth-mode
- no-burn steam wand
- ergonomical
- simple conversion from water tank to mains-connected and vice-versa
- better water filters that are compact
- a proper tamper included
- a double-spouted PF and a bottomless PF (forget the single spouted - what's the point?)
- a really really good, well-documented manual that also identifies parts used & dimensions?
- well-insulated
As for the grinder:
- what Raf mentioned
- stepless grind adjustment
- quiet
- fits under counter-tops comfortably
- dosing mechanism(hopper) pre-grind rather than post-grind either by volume or by mass
- mini-hoppers no more than oh 100g worth of beans that can be sealed air-tight and all you need to do is (simply and non-messily) switch hoppers to have a different coffee
- when it "drops" down to the PF, it's is well distributed... so maybe the funnel end can be somewhat adjustable/replacement per PF/basket size.... and then like those retail grinders, vibrates to evenly distribute and settle the grounds before you need to tamp it. I just hate have to touch the coffee grounds. However the Mazzer Swifter does it but without the tamping mechanism.
Okay, that's more than enough from me now...
Good Luck... and hope to see you join TMC