I had my previous lathe against the wall. My new lathe is perpendicular to the wall. I like this much, much better. One of the reasons I did this was because I now have a sliding headstock and wanted the capability to work off the end doing bowls. It's also easier to clean up around the lathe.
In regard to lathes I have the Laguna 18-36. I looked at the Laguna, Jet, PM, and Grizzly. Each one has advantages and disadvantages. My criteria was design, capacity, price, and features. However the Laguna "fit" me. I'm 5'9" and the Laguna floor to spindle is 41-1/2". The others were higher. My previous lathe was a PM 90. At original configuration floor to spindle was 42". Whe I raised it to a 18" swing the floor to spindle height went to 45". I noticed the difference. I want to do bowls 16" and platters 16" and hollow forms up to 12" deep. If I wanted to do larger bowls or platters, Laguna offers a bed extension that will allow up to 32" swing. Now if I was 6'4" then the I would have needed riser blocks for the legs and a different lathe might have been a better choice.
When working I had more money than time. In retirement I have more time than money. Love the time, miss the money.