Know one person who had a hand quilter as did one of her friends. She ended up not using her HQ because of health problems, the friend did use her a lot, then something broke and she had to send it back to be fixed. It took months to get it back and then it broke again, and off it went again. Another friend had a tin lizzie and did use it for years. Then she came up to visit me and spent some time using my APQS Lucey which is a 26 inch. Well, she ended up buying a Lucey and putting a computer on it. She loves the Lucey and is glad she got rid of the Tin Lizzie. Anyway, my Lucey is now 12 years old, I have done a lot of quilts on her and actually have not had any problems with her other than once when I moved the frame with a quilt loaded. Not a good idea, got a few creases in the backing. I have had a few thread breaks mostly at the beginning and now usually don't even have a thread break on most of my quilts. APQS makes these machines in Iowa. They are designed so most repairs if needed can be done by the quilter and have tech support that can walk through anything you need to do. I got mine as a Demo machine. I am totally happy with my machine. It is basic long arm but does have stitch regulation, needle up/down and one manual channel lock. There is leveler bar which I think most good long arms have. I could add the robotics to it if I wanted to but most of my quilts I just do an over-all free hand design as I make utility quilts to be used. APQS usually has demo sales a few times a year. These are machines that were taken to quilt shows. There are seldom used machines for sale on the website but occasionally you man find one. My thought is that my Lucey will continue to run just fine for several more years. The TOP of the line is of course a millennium which has a few more bells and whistles. I have quilt with that machine to but I am totally satisfied with the Lucey. Oh, I did get mine with bliss and a 12 foot table which is really nice. The 10 foot frame I used to have was too small for queen and king sized quilts. Oh, if buy a new one or a demo, they come with a life time warranty for the original owner.