I just discovered Coffee

Originally Posted by Mister Moo

Stop. Rethink. Do not allow your enthusiasm to misdirect you.

Your opening post clearly reveals you need to defer all other expenditures until you have selected and purchased a killer grinder. I suggest you take any money you might spend on anything coffee and immediately divert it to a grinder. You have all the key indicators of needing a Mazzer Mini, Macap or, at the very least, a Rancilio Rocky.

These are wise words. I've had a long, sordid, and sometimes painful affair with coffee. We've now come to an awkward truce - I've spent a moderately silly amount of money for good tools, and continue to give her far too much money, far too often for good beans. In return, she tortures me by giving me unpredictable glimpses of her perfection on the mornings that I am able to sweet-talk her "just so".

I'll spare you the boring details of this affair, but I'll say this about grinders. Do it once, do it right. I've owned four grinders in the past five years. The money that I wasted on sub-par grinders would have easily covered the cost of the grinder that I ended up purchasing.

A small blade grinder (don't bother unless you're going to use it just for spices)
An inexpensive burr grinder (better, and acceptable if all you're ever going to do is French Press and you don't mind a bunch of "fines" muddying up your cup of coffee)
Another inexpensive burr grinder (first one was broken and I didn't know any better at the time)
A Baratza Vario - purchased after I upgraded to a better espresso machine with a non-pressurized portafilter and figured out that inconsistent grind size was messing with my mojo.

You seem to do the same thing that I do...research, and then experiment...and you don't seem to be happy with less-than-good results. A good grinder will be a huge help for any style of coffee preparation, and is absolutely vital if you want to make good espresso. If you're going to make espresso, you're going to bitterly disappointed in a grinder that can't produce a fine, consistent, finely adjustable grind. Even if you never end up making espresso, a first-rate grinder will probably make a bigger contribution to good end results than any other piece of equipment that you can purchase.