Steel UNO PID (ASCUNOPIDINOX)

Ascaso Steel Uno for fast heat up (or the Duo if you can stretch the budget a bit)  The Specialita should be good 👍🏻  Also Mahlkonig grinders are known for their build quality, so maybe check out the X54. 

> I use beans from Peet's, so I'm not a coffee expert nor do I aspire to be. I have a Niche Zero grinder; I'm not looking to buy a new grinder. I'm just a regular person who wants to make 1-2 oat milk lattes a day for myself. Given that, I think there's strongly diminishing returns above a few hundred dollars. "Reliable machine that won't break" - so there are wear parts in all espresso machines, tubing, gaskets, pumps, etc. and there's no such thing as a machine that won't break. Maybe it changes from 2 years vs 5 years. *Repairability* -- access to parts, ease of access, good customer support, good aftermarket -- now THAT is something worth considering. The good thing is a lot of the popular, expensive machines have that in spades vs the appliance-class machines that maybe get repaired within warranty and then thrown out. So, I know you said $2k budget, but mixed with your explanation about your approach here, I seriously think you don't need to spend more money than what a Gaggia Classic Pro costs. It's repairable. It's reliable. You can mod it if you want more. Upgrade picks: Rancilio Silvia w/ PID, Ascaso Steel Uno. I'm surprised your Lelit is giving you so much trouble. Getting it professionally repaired is going to be the cheapest, best route in the end most likely. Especially if you want to stay dual boiler, that is already one of the best, lowest-cost dual boilers available. It'll be hard to stay under 2k and improve over the Lelit Elizabeth. (For example, dual boiler Silvia Pro is ~$2300 IIRC.)

Ascaso Steel Uno owner here, how about an Ascaso Steel Uno?

Yeah I found mine open box for a good price. At full retail it would’ve been a tougher sell, but I’m a big fan.

The temperature instability of the Bambino makes it impossible to keep some consistentcy with mid or light roasts. That is in my opinion the biggest reason to upgrade to another machine. I love my Bambino but after a year pulling shots with it I am so much looking forward to a machine that has temperature stability. Even my portable Ikape K2 makes better and more consistent shots with mid and light roasts that the Bambino. Currently I only use the Bambino for milk drinks and when pulling an espresso I either use the ikape or do a soup with the oxo. A Profitec Go, Quick Mill Pop Up or Ascaso Uno would be great options with a moderate to short heat up time that will bring your espressos to another level for sure.

The grinder is perfectly fine on that budget. I would spend more on the machine though. I had a Bambino Plus and it's fine for what it is at $500. But I really dislike the lack of a heated group head on the Bambino, which makes it a pain to warm up everything when you want to pull a shot. You end up having to pull blank shots first just to warm up all the lines and the portafilter. My recommendation for the money is the Profitec Go. About double the price and yeah you get let it warm up ~10 min before using it, but the heat soaking the entire machine is worth it IMO. Get a smart plug for whatever machine you get, it's pretty convenient. I do have an Ascaso Steel Uno which I do recommend as well, but it costs more (I don't think the Profitec Go even existed when I bought it). It uses a thermoblock just like the Bambino, but it's got a heated group head and it also benefits from warming up for several minutes prior to pulling shots. You could really spend more if you wanted double boiler or double thermal lock for steaming and pulling shots at the same time, but in my opinion, if you're going to be making like a couple of lattes a day, you can just pull your shots first, then move to steaming.

Well you're not gonna get consistent shots until the machine warms up in my experience. Yes, my Ascaso also needs to warm up, even though it's technically ready and able to pull a shot in 2 minutes, I still prefer to give it 10 (especially because it's enough time to also heat my portafilter to pretty hot). Things just run more consistent once everything is nice and warm. I'm on the side of "every machine benefits from warming up" to be honest. I find that unless it's an E61 that takes 20-30 minutes to warm up, the warm up time on most modern single boilers is really not a big deal and not that long. It just becomes routine. Or like I said, a smart plug completely voids that problem too. I agree you don't need a dual boiler, but I just felt the need to at least mention it otherwise someone else would anyway lol