I find it's always tough when you're buying your first of a particular type of instrument. What I mean is, we're all familiar with Bb trumpets so when we go out shopping for one it's easy to feel and hear the differences between them but the first time you buy a flugel, picc, Eb, cornet, etc. you're kinda going into it blind. I bought my picc not knowing much about it and trusted Yamaha to produce a good professional level piccolo. They do.
My 6810 is a good instrument but after a few months of getting used to it I started to learn it's limitations and started lusting after Schilkes and other industry standard horns(by the way, of the few Schilkes I've played, they were a dream to play. It felt like it played itself. Almost
). However, there is a good ending to the story...
Piccolo playing can send you on a mouthpiece safari all it's own. Since the picc is so different(half the tubing) most players seem to need to use a difference mouthpiece to get a good match. I started off using a Yamaha 14a4a and then moved to a 13d4. When I switched to GR I used my trumpet mouthpiece on it. It was better than before but still not great. I finally made the jump to get fitting for a piccolo piece the same way I got fitted for my trumpet piece. I settled on the 64P-M. It plays great now. It's amazing how easy it is to play when you've got a good match of horn and mouthpiece. The great thing about the GR system is the adapters really help you match your equipment.
Long post short: Play a bunch of piccs and choose the one that plays easiest within your budget. Practice on it diligently for 6-8 months(don't forget flexibilities, scales, and easy baroque rep) and then start experimenting with mouthpieces to match it better.