Just to keep things interesting, I took a look at the Babylock Decorator's Choice today, priced at $799. It has needle up/down, start/stop, fix, thread cutter, knee lift, the works, and lots of decorative stitches/an alphabet. It has a slightly bigger throat, too.
I read some positive reviews of it, too.
I also got a chance to test out the Janome DC2010 and it worked well. It's computerized and has some good features but it lacks the "extras" (more decorative stitches, knee lift, etc)- though the price was right at under $400.
The Bernina Activa 210 was in the price range of the Babylock, around 799, but it's pretty bare bones! Nice construction though.
Hm, with the Babylock I'd get a machine I could grow into more, though still stay relatively within budget. Any more opinions?
Thanks everyone for your help!!