Yup, buy from a good dealer and pay the extra charge for delivery and set-up. It was worth it to have a big, strong guy carry the whole thing in (even those poles are heavy if you get a good solid frame). DH was here to help him and says we're never moving from this house because he's not carrying that thing out! The dealer will make sure everything is level and in working order. He should run through the basics from loading to threading to pantos and make sure you're comfortable with it before he goes. What took him a few hours would have taken us a few days. When he left, I felt comfortable enough to try it on my own. How often do we see posts here from people who say, "My LAs been sitting in the box for months and I haven't attempted to set it up yet" or "I've got it set up but I haven't got the nerve to use it yet." I think if you're going to invest that much money, a few hundred more for set-up is definitely worth it.
When I went in to the dealer for my lessons, she told me her first LA was drop-shipped on the end of her driveway and she and her DH (who does the delivery and set-up now) had a horrible time getting it in the house and set up. So they encourage their customers not to go it alone.