After all, the enjoyment of the hobby is the main purpose of amateur microscopy. Personal preference does play an important role.
There is no point in buying an expensive quality microscope, if you do not like to use it, for whatever reason. A device with which you can not identify with will just stand around, collecting dust.
If taken care of properly, microscopes do last a lifetime, and often the are many memories attached. I would never ever sell my microscope, because of the personal attachment to the device. When engaging in a hobby, the choice of equipment is therefore not an entiely rational issue.