I would follow paper princess' advice, and not invest too much, because we all end up with several machines, each having a favorite feature. If you invest in a "top of the line" machine as your first, you will have blown your whole budget and may never get a 2nd machine when you learn more. When all features are on one machine, changing "set ups" can be very time consuming, so much so you may soon choose not to use many of the machines features, and it all could be a waste. Just a thought.