[troy_dietz]

Most of the more "professional" FFF/FDM printers (7K+) are far less "fiddley" than mid-high end consumer printers. However, they often use proprietary filament and the price per print skyrockets. Many companies claim that their proprietary filament is "specially formulated" and "guarantees high quality prints". A majority of these claims are either false or greatly exaggerated as to give an excuse for outrageous prices for generic filament in specially chipped cartridges.
When you get into other printing methods (SLA, SLS) both the printers themselves and the printing material become extremely expensive.

Personally, I've had some great experiences with the Mojo (produced by Stratasys) but, like most of the higher end consumer machines (and low end professional machines), the price per print is much higher than most open filament systems.

It's a bit of a Catch-22. If the machine is of high quality and relatively expensive, 99% of the time, the filament will be extremely expensive in comparison to some of the mid range consumer machines.

Ideally, you want to find a machine with automatic bed leveling, an enclosed build area, and non-proprietary filament.

As far as FDM printers go, more expensive is not always better. I would look into purchasing one (or many) of the LulzBot or Ultimaker machines. They both have an excellent community and great support.
(Makerbot may be another option, but the newer machines have had several issues and the company has some not-so-nice business practices)