I decided to wait & buy from a local dealer when there is a sale. Too many horror stories about not being able to get service/support when buying online.
It seems like pretty much all of the current models above $300 have all the features I really want. I guess beyond that, it will just involve a lot of test drives. I have no use for dozens of fancy stitches, but can't tell online what the more expensive machines offer other than those stitches.