Thanks for the new posts, fokls!
Prism, thanks again for your wonderful explanations. I so appreciate these. I don't want to hope this info will be in my manual. I want to know ir beforehand so I can decide whether to consider it in choosing a machine.
Dojo, your point about buying from a place that will service the machine is something I've been thinking about. That's what I want, because I'm hard on any kind of machine (computer, car, toaster...). it's soooo tempting to buy the $79.95 model, which sounds just fine, but I know for a fact that I'll run into problems.
One thing you didn't mention, but I can see it'd be a big help, is to have a kitty who will hold down the material. :)