When I bought my embroidery machine I was not looking for one. In fact, I had always told myself that it wasn't fiscally reasonable. As other have said there was always something else we needed more. But I had an inheritance and was paying off the house, buying things my DH wanted, paid off student loans for my DDs and I went into my local Viking dealer and there it was. I have had SO MUCH FUN with it. Mine is a an embroidery/sewing machine, but I keep it in embroidery mode since I have a wonderful sewing machine, so it is my back-up if needed.
The only thing I recommend is going through a good dealer that will support you and your machine. Lessons are great - I am not great at reading the instructions cold. For me it was better for them to show me, teach me what it does, then I can use the book at home to play more.