I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Nolting! I've only had it since May 5th, however, it's a dream come true for me. And guess what? I bought a 10 year old machine! I have had very little trouble with it, and the one very minor issue I had was IMMEDIATELY solved over the phone, after business hours, by one of the people in their Iowa facility. (yes, Nolting's machines are made in the USA!)
The Nolting reps delivered my used machine to my house, set it up, and provided me training. They spent the day with me doing all this, plus I have a day-long class scheduled next month, FREE, with them at their facility.
This is my FIRST longarm machine. Yes, there is a learning curve and I'm on it. I'm keeping a blog about any issues I have (most of which are tension related) so that I can look back and see my progress. Already, just a couple months in, I feel that I have gotten better at it.
I work a full time day job, just in case you think I have all day to play on my machine. When I get on the machine, I tell myself this is my learning period and not to be so hard or critical on myself about my work.
I kind of got off track. What I wanted to express was that there ARE good manufacturers and dealers. I found a real gem in Nolting and I can't say enough good about them. The people are fantastic to deal with, from the reps to the factory and even the receptionist in Iowa. They stand behind their machines. I hope anyone who has any doubts gives them a fair shake, because the experience I have had with them is just out of this world fantastic.