Quilt show is a great place to test drive the different brands. It is also helpful to have a dealer that is available for you should the need arise. I have been through the HandiQuilter 16 - which I purchased used for the purpose of learning and to see if this was the direction in which I wanted to go. Then a used HandiQuilter Avante 18 became available - so I moved up and learned a bit more. Last fall a HandiQuilter Fusion came on the market from a dealer so I purchased that one - I am so very pleased with the performance of all the HandiQuilter machines. The dealer that I purchased the machine from is about an hour away - but it is worth the drive to her neat quilt shop. She was excellent in setting up the machine and she is very good about assistance if needed over the phone. Good luck - I enjoy using a quilting machine - it makes it possible to create quilts and put them to use instead of accumulating them in a pile to be hand quilted. Sew them up - quilt them, use and love all those beautiful quilts.