I have an older Nolting with a 24" throat. I use mostly pantographs and can go up to a 15" comfortable. My dream machine is one of he APQS long arms. One of the most important things is to have reliable service, which mine has not needed in 5 years, and someone you can talk to if you can't make the darn thing work. For me, my husband is so mechanically minded that he can usually fix my problems. As you guessed, mine has no computers on it and that makes it much easier to work on and keep running. I would like a better table, and maybe one of these years will get one.
My best advice would be to go to a large quilt show and test drive every machine there. I went to the International quilt Festival in Houston. I had decided on an APQS machine which I would have had to wait several years for. Then I bought the 1999 Nolting from my friend for a super reasonable price. She had just bought a new Gammill. Hers did move smoother on the newer table and I thought the stitch was a bit better, but my cost was 10% of what she paid for hers. I'm okay with my deal.