I like the 301 - it does a beautiful straight stitch and it handles pretty heavy tasks without balking and without making any noise about it, either. The large opening under the arm is great, too.
The vertical bobbin orientation helps make the machine more forgiving for FMQ than the other slant needle machines and for most quilting, you will like the results.
But there are some cons: I don't like the much smaller bobbin because that means more bobbin changes. I used 25 bobbins on the last quilt I finished (92" square - queen/king) and that wasn't even heavily quilted. It would have been at least 50 bobbins with the 301.
I also don't like the slant needle, which reduces the machine's piercing power and causes more of a problem with needle deflection than you have with vertical needle machines.