For years I did all of my sewing on the least expensive machines, because that was what I could afford. I had an opportunity a few years ago to buy a "big fancy" quilting machine so I did. My reasons were, now that I can make quilts work out right, I felt it was time to see how the other half lived, so I started shopping for a machine. I looked at almost all of the brands, and what sold me on mine was first of all price (I am a cheap old broad, lol!) and then the includes. I got an extension table, knee lift for the needle, self threading needle, hundreds of stitches, the ability to sew sideways during quilting, programable stitches, thread cutter, 3 alphabets, 150+ stitches, 10+ feet, available other feet, 1 step button holes, the list goes on, but that is all I have tried so far. I was not interested in a long arm set up because of lack of space for one so I did not look at them. I have discovered with trial and error that I am much more comfortable using QAG methods so that is what I am currently doing. My shoulders and neck have been too damaged to quilt whole quilts on a DSM. The only queen size I quilted on my machine, took me weeks to recover from, so no more of that for me. When I bought my machine I got a great discount, and another discount because I was willing to buy the floor model. My machine was just at $1000, and worth every penny. Go shopping before you decide what you need, and can use, so you know what kind of machine would suit you. If you never buy a "big fancy" you will still make great quilts, so the choice is yours.