Grinding your coffee before brewing it will always make it taste better. Pre-ground coffee stales much quicker than whole bean. There are two ways to go for a home grinder:
Blade Grinder ($33) : Two blades spin and whip your beans apart. The longer you hold down the button, the finer the grinds become.
or
Burr Grinder ($115): You set your two burrs to grind your coffee quickly and at the same grind lever every single time.
Burr grinders are easy. The obstacle with the blade grinder is to get a consistent grind every time so your coffee taste the same every morning. But it's not that hard. Here are three tips 'n' tricks:
1. Sporadically shake your grinder while holding down the button. Standing still, your blade grinder will shove super ground coffee to the sides while keeping course grinds in the middle. Shaking the grinder for an even distribution.
2. After 10 seconds or so, take your finger off the button. Take a knife or the handle of your tablespoon and stir your grinds. This continues the even distribution for more consistency.
3. To bring the noise level down for anyone still sleeping in your house, wrap it up in a towel.
The more you use it, the better you'll get. Goodnight & good luck.