Re: Some random beginner questions
1) UK brands - PM Dave on sawmill creek - he'd know.
2) Trade shows - ask Trotec where they will be - competitors (some) will be there too.
3) I don't know if people recommend Chinese machines except as having good value. They are generally inferior (I have one), though they may work perfectly fine for your application. And likely way cheaper for the big tables.
4) Non chinese brands = likely decent support. Resale chinese brands - research support carefully. Chinese direct - may have some support but count on none.
5) Power - acrylic depends on the thickness but I really don't see much point (as I have a router) for over 12mm thick, paper/cardboard is easy, not sure on mdf and plywood but that's likely on the higher end. I'd say you need 80-150W with the higher watt allowing somewhat faster cuts.
6) You seem to have a handle on the downsides of an open table.
7) My guess is a router with a drill bank would blow a laser out of the water for 5000 holes assuming this was a production thing and the spacing stays the same.
8) Cutting on rotary should be fine, as it only changes the one axis and doesn't effect anything else.
In case anyone is wondering, I'm the twin of the other gfacer on cnczone...