Born and New Orleans. Post Katrina living in Atlanta. Love Hotlanta but you never get New Orleans out of your blood!
I would pick the brain of quilt shop personnel - they are not necesssarily sales people. They have a diverse knowledge base and will be able to give you insight.
I have two Vikings (expensive) but I did not buy them primarily for quilting. It you want to machine quilt (not just piece) but would look at Brother and Bernia. Bernia has the patten on the Stitch Regulator which decreases the learning curve for free motion. Also hearing good things about the Brother.