see if there's a handi-quilter website. read the pros and cons. you get a good idea that way.
i started with a small-throat machine (9" brother quilter) and small frame. i
found it very frustrating when i got to the end, because the throat fills up with the rolled quilt and your work space gets very small. i could have done just as well without the frame by machine basting and then rolling and working from the center outwards. after less than one year i moved up to an 18" quilter and 12' frame. i will be forever sorry that i wasted the money on that first machine and frame. i should have waited and put that money toward the next one.