Burr mills come cheaper than that. I have one that set me back less than $50. The design is rather poor, though. The grounds go into a rectangular hopper. When you remove the hopper (like to fill up a cuppa joe), you get grounds everywhere. And the rectangular ends make it hard to clean. And I wouldn't make espresso with it. But I do french press.
STarbucks isn't bad, although sheer economics has meant that they've lost quality over the years (there aren't enough quality coffee beans in the world to run the Starbucks empire). So they are currently moving away from coffee and into the fast food realm.
And even with mediocre materials, a properly brewed cup of coffee can be quite acceptable.
Take for example espresso machines. Many coffee shops in the US use ones where the operator controls the flow of steam. And the result is predictable: snot-nosed 18-year-olds who think "espresso" means "superfast" and "superstrong". So they overpack the beans and pull the shot in 4 seconds.
A good cup of coffee is:
A) Freshness of the grind.
B) Freshness of the brew.
C) Quality of water
D) quality of beans
E) method of preparation.
Yes, I prefer french press to filter coffees, but French Presses (aka Bodum, aka Presse Italienne) require the most work. Dump the grounds down the toilet, not the sink, grind the beans coarsely (here a burr mill helps -- it's not just overheating the beans, it's also an even grind), bring the water just off the boil (_not_ boiling), pour it in, stir with a wooden spoon, let steep for four minutes (and no longer), then serve.
That's complicated for first thing in the morning.
