My husband also was very supportive, and I'm glad he pushed me to get the 24" machine instead of the 18" model. And with his interest, I bought the computerized portion a year later. Now he quilts too! He's always love computer design, so he has a lot of fun picking designs and fitting them to the quilt. Though so far he's got no desire for piecing, but that works for me as I love to piece, and he'll quilt the ones that I don't have special plans for.
I still prefer to quilt free hand and love ruler work, but the computer and the design software allow for more options and can really get a quilt done fast if all it needs is an all over pattern.