Since I recently got a real quilting/sewing table from Tracey's Tables (it's great!) I gave my old table--a very heavy, particle-board-based student desk--to my sister. It's made a huge difference for her. Her old sewing table was a 30" x 60" fold-in-half table that vibrated so badly she couldn't sew fast. This was good, she said, because she had to slow down and be careful...but she likes the new one now. :-)
For FMQ, I prefer the foot pedal but set the maximum speed governor on my VQ3000 to just over halfway. I've found that sewing somewhat faster allows smoother lines and more even stitches.