Ricoma RCM1501PT and Embroidery i2

I am thinking of getting this Ricoma RCM1501PT. I can get it for $3k. The owner defaulted on their lease. Is that a good deal, anyone use a Ricoma?

Also, since I'm getting into the biz, I'm looking at software. I come from the graphic design world and already have Adobe Illustrator so I was considering Embroidery i2. Any thoughts. And also how do you buy anything from Hirsch. There are no prices anywhere and no way to purchase online!

Location: 
United States

I found out what I needed to know about Embroidery i2. You MUST be connected to the internet to digitize your stitching. It is not a stand alone program. Still need advice on Ricoma.

First of all you need to find out date of manufacturing, before august of 2008, they had some electrical issues, but the ones produced after that haven't had any issues that i know of. One way to tell is where the emergency stop button is, the newer ones have the button on the right the older models had it on the left of your built on computer. "they were out sourcing and purchasing there computers, they now have there own factory. If you have any questions write me back and I'll help in anyway possible. hope this helps,jimmyg

Thanks for the advice, the Tajima rep who repo'd it seems to think there are no problems and that it is in working conditi on. I kind of felt like it was a great price considering they are around $8k all over the internet. I read about the electrical problems and what they said was to have some sort of regulator to make sure the current was constant or something along those lines. I'll ask the guy about the emergency stop button. Pretty sure it was 2008 or 2007 because he said it 2 1/2 years old.