No difference. I have a mocha and a two tone. There is supposedly more eye strain with the black one but it never bothered me with other vintage machines I own. Both my 301s sew great but DH feels the 2 tone is a little smoother and odly enough I read the same comment from another quilter. I am partial to the mocha. And yes, the black usually cost more money because of demand. Long beds are also more expensive. The long bed refers to the little flip up table to the left. A long bed will not fit in a cabinet and it also does not add to the troat space under the arm which is desirable for quilting. So the term long arm refers in this case to something other then what most of us consider a long arm.