I agree with feline that a dealer that can help with training and support is a necessity with a longarm, however I don't think that dealer has to be "local" (depends on the definition of local, I guess). I also have an Innova, but when I bought it the closest dealer was hours away, in another state. Later on a closer dealer signed up, but the only time I needed him for support was to buy something that I could have purchased online if I had been willing to wait for delivery. My husband and I did the setup, after the dealer had done partial assembly at her site. I did get training on purchase (very important), and after that I was able to solve any problems by a phone call to Innova's 24/7 support. The point is still that you need to be able to call on someone for support from time to time. There are probably yahoo groups devoted to the Juki longarms, and you should be able to get more specific information about the Juki and the type of support provided there.