If at all possible Frosty, might be worth you going round to an enthusiast or two for a coffee and seeing how easy their set up is. To use an analogy you’ve driven an HGV for a living but have never had an SUV and are trying to weight them up from the internet.
I still remember the folk who kindly accommodated a visit when I first started back around 2004 but was surprised how much mess and coffee grinds there were, dirty cloths and sponges, what seemed an awful lot of faff, but I realised it didn’t have to be like that.
My first machine (Gaggia Cubika) was the end game, until I realised as a single boiler that after extracting a shot I had to wait for the boiler to heat up for steaming. And then wait for it to cool down before I could extract again.
My next machine was the end game (Pavoni) and the zen of a lever, until I got fed up with the Porter filter wiggle to release the pressure, the general mess of using one particularly if you make two (I had two double baskets) back to back and that it’s basically a kettle meaning it’s too cold, then it’s right, then carries on heating up. And steaming needed exceptional skill.
My next machine was the end game (Expobar Brewtus II) except they had designed the controller to sit in the hottest part of the machine. So it gave way to an Izzo Alex and then the game changed as DC was becoming influential with changes being made for pro/consumers.
Hence an Izzo Duetto (great machine), a Verona (again great) but an opportunity to buy a Vesuvius and I had been like a kid in a sweet shop quietly since seeing it at DCs place.
Similar story for me with grinders (Macap, Mazzer, Ceado and Niche) and roasters (iRoast, Hottop, Genecafe, Quest M3 then Dalian).
To some extent has been the fun of the journey and I guess settling on what I can be bothered to do without getting lazy. Personally an easy repeatable routine with cleanliness and minimum maintenance is as important to me as the quality of shot. I still make cafetière and moka pot sometimes, V60 when I want the cleanest taste (using 1zpresso J-Max) and mostly split doubles on the Vesuvius for small regular coffees with maybe 1 in 10 as a latte.
But I know I benefited from seeing machines and set ups in action or having my techniques critiqued to correct faults I was otherwise unaware of and it’s amazing how easy it is to fall into them.
All good fun and good luck with the choice!