I have had a hard time with machines. I started on the $100 Walmart Singer Machine and it did surprisingly well with FMQ! But I decided I needed something bigger and badder, so I got an older Elna in a cabinet for $40 off Craigslist. It was more machine than I could handle and ended up selling it when I got a machine on a frame off CL. I didn't like that one bit, so I sold it and ... oh I could do this all day! I have tried about 20 different machines, none of them more than $30-40. I finally found "the one" at an estate sale for $50. It's a 30-year old Pfaff. I worry that it will die on me sooner than later, so I've kept up the hunt.
Here's where the "just bite the bullet" comes in. I got a 9-inch harp machine off Amazon for around $500 but I didn't like it. When I put my thread in it, it said, "No way, nuh uh" and I said, "Fine, back in the box!" and sent it back. I had narrowed down the hunt to a sit-down option only. No more frame quilting for this girl! (I can rent from the fabric store for $8/hour if I want to long arm!) I wanted a Sweet 16, so I started a savings account for it. I found the Sunshine 16 and decided that would work too, and so much cheaper. Then I realized that I do use my feed dogs and walking foot and like being able to sew a straight line... so those machines (and Baileys, etc) off the radar.
So I started looking at industrial machines. Table? check. Feed dogs? check. I ordered a new one off Ebay and got it about a month ago. It took a long time to put it together, because there were no instructions! But she's great and uses the same feet my Pfaff uses! I can adjust the speed on the motor but she's a little on the loud side!
I need to spend some more time with her (too busy with Christmas stuff to play with her when I first got her, and now I'm burnt out and it's hand-quilting time!) but I think she's all I will need. It was hard to make up my mind, but I couldn't see spending more than that, even tho quilting is my only vice.
Good luck!