I don't really think I would have changed anything, short of which scrollsaw message board to be a member of, then again, SSV wasn't around then.
I started on a $69.00 Harbor Freight saw and turned out some great stuff on it. Like many, didn't want to spend a ton of money on it if I was bad at it. Turns out I'm pretty good at it and so I upgraded to a Craftsman 21". By the end of February I'll have my DW788.
Mark, the Eclipse is supposed to be an awesome saw. Not too many of us have them because of the cost. You could buy 3 DW788's for the price of the Eclipse. I believe the Eclipse is all hand built as well as opposed to the assembly line built saws. This could be what's adding to the long delivery time. I've heard good reviews about the saw and about their customer service. I would try and find out from them exactly what "top of the list" means from a time standpoint. I would also ask them what happens if they can't deliver by that date. To keep a customer waiting that long isn't cool. You should get something for your extra long wait time.
Barry