I bought my TM-1 right about the time Heli John bought his. Mine was delivered in Feb of 2008.
I agree that rigid tap is something that you definitely want. It is used all the time on my mill. I hardly ever use any of the intuitive or conversational programming stuff on the mill (I use it alll the time on the TL lathe), but it was included for free on the TM series when I bought mine so it is Ok for a simple bolt circle or such on occasion. I bought the expanded memory after delivery of the machine because I was doing 3D surfacing and some of the files were big. John is right, to activate the memory you just enter a code that they give you after you pay up. But these new machines all come standard with the USB port now and I realized later than I could just run large programs directly off of the USB so I probably didn't need the extra memory. Since I have it I still use it. To save money I didn't get the wiring for the 4th axis but my HFO tells me it can be added with a 2 hour service call. When I decide to upgrade I am going to try adding it myself first, then get the service guy out if need be because just to get to me is 2 hours of travel time each way for the HFO so it gets expensive just for them to show up. If I was buying again today I would get it with the 4th axis wiring installed. I got all the guards for the ways and I think that was a very good investment. I got the small coolant system and it works good for flood cooling with a couple of hoses added. The downside is that it doesn't have much pressure so if you are machining a real deep pocket it doesn't blast the chips out of the hole and you end up recutting chips which is hard on the finish and the end mills. So I have rigged up an air blast to do that now. Also the tank is pretty small (5 gal) so if the return plugs up you can cavite the pump before too long. I extended the tank. Like you I couldn't see what I would use the spindle orientation for other than broaching ... and I didn't want to risk brinelling the spindle bearings doing that ... so I didn't get it. I also did not get the probe. I would have liked to have it but for the extra $5,000 I just couldn't go there back then. Setting the tools by hand isn't too bad and I just use and edge finder for bores, edges etc. I don't do volume production work though so the little extra time is OK for me. I bought a box of 24 pull studs with the machine because I read some horror stories about bad quality pull studs. I bought tool holders and tooling elsewhere, The Haas price was just too high. Mari Tool has been a good supplier although I am seeing some fretting on one of their toolholders after a year's use. Glacern toolholders seem to me to be lower quality and showed fretting on the taper after less than 10 hours of use. Unfortunately that is on a holder with an integral drill chuck so it was expensive. Others report good luck with them though and there is a whole separate debate about over or under tightening pull studs, cleaning the taper etc that you can read on here. Kennametal had a special going on cat 40 holders a while back and those holders are really nice and show no wear after lots and lots of use. Check their web site for deals once in a while. On special the toolholders weren't much more $$$ than the other guys. They also had several offers over the last 18 months where you buy two boxes of inserts and you get the tool for free so I got two very nice quality insert end mills and a face mill that way for a decent price. As far as power failure options go I did not get the option. I have had the power go out twice while the machine was running parts and it did not ruin the part or end mill either time. Both times it was roughing when the power dropped off.
I love my TM-1. It just runs and runs and for the prototyping and small part runs that I do it has really been a great machine. I think you will be very happy with your purchase.
Hercules
2008 TM-1, 2008 TL-3, 2009 TL-1, 2010 VF-2YT