Researching Free Montion Quilting machines
 

I was looking for a machine that would be primarily for quilting.
I was able to test drive a HandiQuilter Sweet Sixteen sit down model, a long arm setup for the same machine, a Juki industrial straight stitch machine.
I liked the sit down Handiquilter a lot but at $6000. it was a lot of money for just quilting. I was using it to quilt in five minutes.
The long arm was very fast but took time for setup and I was not able to feel like I had good control with my stitched. I also do not want to spend hours sanding to do this. If I was going to have a business quilting this would work. But the price is almost the same as a compact new car.
the Juki QE2010 Q was $1000, has here speed controls, does only straight stitch, no computer and can stitch 1500 stitches per minute. A real workhorse.
All of these. A hones had good reviews so it came down to price and not standing.
i bought the Juki from a local dealer who matched the Internet price. Threading and winding bobbins took a few minutes to learn. Free motion quilting took about five minutes to figure out.
i was quilting on a Pfaff 7550 and some of the things you do on the Juki are the opposite of the Pfaff.
The speed control is a key feature to help you get even stitches.
The Jumi comes with an automatic needle threaded, a thread cutter. I do not use the thread cutter as it seems a bit clunky. The motor hums I this machine which is also important to me.
I am an art quilter and exhibit all over the world and most quilts are very large- 6 feet by 6 feet being typical. For the 15-25 I do a year this Juki will serve me just fine.I am also a retired engineer so I evaluated machines from that aspect as well.
Hope this helps.

I've never had the opportunity to test machines, no dealers close, but I have been researching long arms online a lot. I really want one but as you say they are sometimes as much as a car, which I need more than a machine. I use a brother 1500 for quilting which works ok, I mainly want the throat space a longarm offers and stitch regulator. Maybe some day.

I use the Brother 1500. I have it sitting in sit down quilting table with the front end of the machine facing me. I've tried several LA set ups and none have made me say this is fun. They all seemed like a lot of work to me.