I realize this is an older thread now, but as someone who has NOT been happy with the machine I purchased and has looked and “driven” multiple machines over the past year as I think of replacing my clunker I do have some thoughts. Note: I don’t quilt for others and don’t plan to. I just quilt for me.
1) Don’t test drive a single machine and think you have tested that brand. Test drive 2,3, or 4 machines to get to know a brand. Go to shows, dealers, other people’s studios or homes and try them out. Get a feel for how they drive, listen to how much noise they make. Look at the stitches - front and back. I have now tried at least 2 machines of every brand on the market that I am considering (and more of some). I can tell you that every machine is set up and drives a bit differently. One of the machines I tested in a brand was great and another (at the same quilt show, in the same booth) was horrible. When I asked about the difference, the rep told me I was wrong, they both had the same great feel! WRONG!!! I wrote them off immediately since it was clear I couldn’t trust the company rep to give me the truth.
2) thread the machine AND wind a bobbin. I hadn’t paid attention to how much going back and forth around the back of the machine and bending and stretching there was for some brands just to thread the machine until I threaded the machine and wound a bobbin. I had pretty much made up my mind to buy a well know brand until I did that. Way too much work to thread and wind a bobbin. I realized that putting on the spool in the back, leaning over the frame to thread the complicated threading in the middle of the machine, coming to the front, leaning into the machine to continue threading and then squatting down to be able to see the small holes near the needle was not going to work as I aged.
3) Buy from a dealer that has been in business a while and doesn’t look like they will be selling out any time soon. Dealers come and go and phone tech support is important. BUT, having a good dealer near to you is critical IF you have on-going problems with the machine. I bought my machine at a show, my local dealer stopped carrying my brand a short time later and the nearest dealer was the factory - 750 miles from me. Crappy phone support, no way to take the machine in, no one that could check the problems I was having with the frame, etc. I got a LOUD machine. Too bad, no way to return it for a quieter one - that’s just what you get. I finally paid for a technician to come to my house from over 1000 miles away to be told that I got a loud machine and a poorly build frame, but nothing that would be so bad that the company would take it back. A dealer may have been more supportive if their reputation was on the line. The tech I paid to come did make a few adjustments to get things running better, but not great. It has been 5 years, my frank me still has issues causing my machine to jump out of alignment at times, my machine is still loud, and I dread actually going to the machine and quilting my quilts, something I should enjoy.
3). Know what you want to do before you buy. If you plan to quilt for others, a good robotic system is probably essential. It will allow you to automate and replicate nice patterns quickly and efficiently and take you quickly to the point of being able to sell services. However, they take time to learn and you have to get a good one. If you are going to do everything free motion, you will have a long learning curve to get good enough to sell your work (you might be a quick learner, but my experience with other long arm quilters says it isn’t likely). Do you want to do specialty things like couching? Not all machines can do that. Do you want to do ruler work? If so you may want to consider a larger throat since the “table” for ruler work takes up space. Do you plan to do straight line quilting? Does the system have easy channel locks -horizontal, vertical, diagonal (at various angles)?
5). What accessories do you need and are they available at a reasonable price? I will need better lighting on my new machine and I don’t want a giant light system that is in the way of my quilting or glares in my eyes - that knocks out a couple of models if I want their system. You mentioned variable height - do you want hydraulic lifts? Not all frames have that available. Speaking of frames, is the available frame a solid frame or is it pieced (avoid a pieced frame if you can). Does it have a dead bar as someone else pointed out? It is aluminum or wood construction - avoid both aluminum and wood if possible - they are less expensive, but can get flimsy. What is the largest quilt you plan to quilt? A 12 foot frame will quilt a 10 ft quilt (120” allowing for the space on each end that the machine can’t quilt), but if you will never quilt that big, a smaller frame is more efficient, takes less space, and MAY be less expensive.
BTW, My current machine is not one of the brands you are looking at so don’t worry, you won’t get my lemon. I wrote off some of the ones you are looking at because of them not having features I wanted, bad dealers, etc., and have included some you didn’t because of those same reasons. You need to find what works for you!