They lack pressure? Surely that’s dictated by the grind and tamp as a normal espresso machine?

You can make coffee far stronger than espresso in one if you do it carefully!

My recommendation for machines is Cuisinart. Better coffee than my Gaggia and also better functionality.

They can’t produce the 8-10 bar needed to make proper espresso. The extraction is very different in a stovetop That only has 1.5 bar pressure

Is that the blow-off valve pressure?

Stove tops get a bit hot. The water has to boil. I use one for camping. its good but not as good

As all electric pump machines are expensive and seem to have a finite life so how about this?

http://www.lecafeshop.co.uk/coffee-makers/products/the-presso

makes amazing coffee, relativels cheap and would seem to be durable…

wrecker – add a bit more coffee – sounds to me like you have a big gap between puck and the mesh bit where water is pushed in