Starting from scratch - Help!

I am looking at buying a Melco Amaya and have gotten differing opinions on the machine. The only negative thing I heard was that there may have been some problems with the older version of the Amaya, which is the one I am looking to buy. Everything else I heard was very positive.

I was also looking for opinions and recommendations about basic digitizing and lettering software. I was looking at the middle of the road version of Corel DraWings, which I believe is nearly $1000. Im not looking to do my own digitizing, but would like to learn eventually and would like to have lettering software.

Any help would be appreciated. If you would like to contact me directly, my e-mail address is ocembroidery@gmail.com

Thanks again,
Gary