I started with a small Pfaff machine on a Grace frame and then upgraded to an HQ Fusion about 7? years ago. Bigger throat space is very important.
You say you aren't planning to go the computerized route, but have you done much free motion quilting with a longarm? It's not as intuitive as you may think or be led to believe by watching experienced longarmers. It takes a ton of practice!
I got my HQ from an amazing dealer who came to my house and set it up and gave us a 2 hour lesson. We then had two FREE all day lessons from them--one on how to load and all the steps involved in quilting an entire quilt and another day of just learning how to use the software. I took my computer savvy dh to that class and for a good while he was better at this than me!
My one caveat is that the ProStitcher software can be frustrating! I quilted this week with the lastest update and it had me swearing and ready to chuck it thru the window. But then my dh came along and had NO issues. Sometimes technology hates me (and I just need to shut down for 10 minutes and let both of us cool off!!)