I too wanted a longarm machine. I rented one for awhile to make sure I truly “needed” it. :-) And I did!! Hahaha Most machines are comparable as to what comes with/on the machines. The main consideration for me was to have local support. I did not purchase my machine to start a business. I bought it to quilt my own quilts. I quilted hundreds and hundreds of charity quilts to build my skills so I did not have to start on one of mine and “ruin” it. I have a Gammill Classic Plus. It is a stand up manual machine with a stitch regulator. No computer. I have never been sorry about this purchase. Still quilting on this machine for 12 years and counting.