"He who marches out of step hears another drum." ~ Ken Kesey
I wish I knew more about embroidery machines but I've been doing more research lately since we'll need to start upgrading some of our equipment in the next few years. I've spent a few hours with an embroidery consultant and have learned most of what I know from him. Most of us already know this, but it's Tajima and Barudan, then everyone else. I don't think buying a Happy would be a mistake, it depends on what you intend to do with it. Is it going to be the foundation of an operation and running 8 hours a day or is it going to be running a few jobs per week, small quantities? I think the way you answer those questions will tell you if the Happy machine will be right for you.If it were my money, I'd strongly look at the older Tajimas. We have 72 heads, all Tajima, all late 90's and early 2000's models and they all run 5 days a week, 8-10 hours a day and they never stop. You can't say that about other manufacturers and although Barudan may make a machine as good or better than Tajima today, they weren't as good 10-15 years ago. I can attest to the Tajimas from 96-2002 as being a very strong foundation to build an embroidery operation on. I don't know if a new Happy will run trouble free for the next 5 years but I know if you were to buy a 2000-2008 Tajima then it would still be running in 2025 if you take care of it.
I can't speak for any brands other than Tajima and ZSK. We had 40 some heads at one time, and both machines were work horses. Ran some of the Tajimas 24/7. My current contract embroiderer uses Melco and gives us great work. I know it's not just the machine, but the machine is a big part of it.