My wife and I are considering buying a foodsaver to vacuum wrap game as well as ordinary meats (for example, some meat on sale at the grocery store which we don't want to eat for a couple of months).

I see there are varioius foodsaver models at different price points. Can anyone provide a brief on this topic, direct me to the trade-offs and decision points? What do I get for more money, longer machine life, greater functionality, both? where is the sweet spot of money spent for returned serviceability? I have read some other posts and I gather that you can diminish the life of your machine by improper use -- letting the sealing area get fouled and wet.

Help me out here. I'm sure some of you are very experienced users of the vacuum sealers.