Greetings from Northern California. I have a Babylock Espire and love my machine. Yesterday I saw a posting for the new Babylock Serenade and they have now added the built-in-walking foot. Drats!
The nice thing about today is that you can do a lot of research online. Compare features and styles of machines and then narrow down your selection. I always made a MUST HAVE and WOULD BE NICE TO HAVE list.
As for longarms, not sure but Lacelady (Lesley) has a midarm (HQ16) and she is in Ireland. You may want to send her a pm and ask her about it.