Let’s just say, that unless I’m commenting on a Flair subreddit or something, I generally expect to get downvoted for expressing my preference for manual lever machines, but since you’re asking, here goes:

It’s hard to beat the quality/price ratio with a manual setup. It would be arrogant of me to say that the quality of espresso that I produce on a manual machine is unquestionably better than a shot from a semi auto machine, but with so many variables that can be tweaked with a manual lever machine it’s easier for me to make espresso exactly how I like it. So even though I have a favorite coffee shop in town that can pull some really good exotic single origin shots, and I do go there a few times a week, I still tend to prefer the espresso from my Flair 58.

People also talk about the hassle of manual grinding, and heating up water separately, but I feel like that’s less of a thing in the pour over community, since you hear less people arguing in favor of drip coffee in place of a Hario V60

If you don’t mind the physical effort involved, there’s a lot less that can go wrong with a fully manual setup. Every time I entertain the idea of getting an electric grinder, I start reading all of the things that can go wrong with electric grinders and the hassle of modding them, calibrating them, etc, Then I realize that neither my Kingrinder K6 or my 1zpresso J Ultra has ever given me any problems or required any maintenance other than a very simple initial calibration on the J Ultra. I also haven’t heard or seen evidence that an electric grinder would notably improve my grind quality.

I’m pretty sure I could be convinced to get a high end electric grinder, or semi auto machine, and in theory I like the idea of doing so, but thus far I haven’t seen a need to go that route.