Homemade bread definitely needs a starter if you want any sort of flavour. If you can't bother with that the "No Knead" recipe is pretty amazing. Makes a flavourful, crispy thin crust dough for pizza as well.

I would be in the camp to not bother with a bread machine. Convection oven for me.

http://www.steamykitchen.com/168-no-knead-bread-revisited.html

I’m armed and I’m drinking. You don’t want to listen to advice from me, amigo.

-Max Payne