The first thing I recommend is to peruse and bookmark the website Sweet Marias (.com).
I recommend either the Clever dripper or the Aeropress. The Clever is a full-immersion brewer that combines the excellent extraction of a French Press (aka plunger pot) with the grit-free clarity of drip, while avoiding the many problems of singe-cup pour-over drippers (forget about them!). Maximum yield from the Clever is 14 fl. oz - i.e. a very large mug+. Easy, simple, cheap.
And while a good burr grinder is nice to have (Capresso Infinity is the least expensive one I recommend - Baratza otherwise) a plain old $20 blade grinder is just fine to get started with.
Wanted to thank everyone for this thread, but in particular KevinK here. My old automatic drip brewer crapped out on me last week, but as I'm leaving full-time out of home work here next Friday, I decided I could upgrade my home coffee station as I'll have time to make and enjoy a really good cup of coffee. (Maybe someday I'll roast my own beans, but we're not there yet).
Specifically, the recommendation about Sweet Maria's was good. I learned a lot reading their blog for about an hour...
I have a stovetop kettle, two french presses, and a rotating blade grinder already, but wanted to step my game up...
I bought myself a small 1L electric kettle with six temp settings and a temp hold off Amazon for $60. This was a gift for both me and my tea-drinking wife who often laments she doesn't "have time" to boil the kettle, or wants to do it while she's getting ready, but doesn't like to sprint from the bathroom to stop the whistling. She was skeptical, but tried it and after one use is convinced... convenience you don't NEED, but man... it's nice.
I bought a Capresso Infinity off of the recommendations here ($99 on Amazon). Very nice and an obvious difference-maker relative to my spinning blade.
And I went with the Clever Coffee dripper... I'm making the best cups of coffee at home in my life. As people have said, you get the flavor of the french press without the bitterness or acidity (or sometimes just straight grounds)... and there's not as much faffing about with the pour-over... cleanup is super simple. Overall, the process takes less time than my french press, and not much more difficult/time consuming than the auto drip machine.
The only drawback I can see so far is that if I want a second cup I'm using a second filter everyday, but the quality of the coffee is far superior to my automatic maker, and significantly better than the french press as well. FWIW, I tested with the rest of my Trader Joe's beans I had been using on the old setups... Can't wait to see how higher quality beans come out with this.
I was considering a Technivorm Moccamaster prior to this thread, but those are $315 (and not including a new grinder!), and I ended up with this setup for less than $200. Someday I'll probably get an Aeropress as well to make some other things, but for a simple, great cup of coffee in the morning, I am all set.
Thanks for the thread and recommendations!