I traded about 5 sewing machines i wasn't ever going to use and a little cash for my uses Janome 9500 a couple years ago. Got a great machine and more room at home for fabric! :D. Also got the same warranty as if it were new at my dealer.

I have a Brother Quattro and a Janome 350e but use the 350e the most.

I have the cheapest Brother embroidery machine. It was $300 and only has a 4 in area to embroider.
I use it for quilting only, not interested in designs on towels, clothes, etc.
6 in blocks work well. Ive made baby quilts with teddy bears and nursery rime red work designs and they are adorable.
Also found some designs that are just designs that are 4 in. squares in red work.
I used 9 patches for the alternate blocks and they work perfect.
My camera will not download to my computer anymore for some reason so cant post pictures.
Would love to have a machine with the big hoop to quilt a quilt with but cant afford it.

You will get as many opinions as there are folks on this board - lol - on this question. All the brands have good machines and not so great machines. I used to work for Viking. Had a Babylock that I just loved. Now have twoo Pfaffs.

Firstly. determine what it is that you want to embroider. This will dictate the size of the hoop you will need. Just remember - once you get going you will want to do more!! Here are some questions to consider

Set a budget.
When you look at a machine - how easy is it to set up?
How are the designs transferred to the machine (I would tell you to "run" from any machine that has a proprietary card if it does not come with software and hardware to write your wanted file on the card - many now use a USB interface)
What size hoops are there?
Are there lessons available locally? (even if you did not purchase it at a dealer often they will sell you lessons)
Is the user interface (the screen to run the machine) straight forward and intuitive?
If it is used - how many hours is on it (most machines internally keep track and that time can be accessed).
Play with it and look at the stitches top and bottom.

AND once you have it - have fun!!

Selling my Janome 350E
ebay http://www.ebay.com/itm/Janome-Memor...item4ac1feba23
Craigslist http://detroit.craigslist.org/okl/art/3645105040.html

Viking Rose love...

In a few short months i will be the happy new owner of a tajima singlehead 12 needle c1201 mqchine. Thats twelve needles of color,99 colorchanges before i even need to look at it. Along with all the hoops triples and quads of them thread 50,000 designs, computer and all setups and printers, hat attachment, emb field of 28" x 36" ( or 34"). And a tune up and del. To my door for agrand total of $6,000.00. Look on ebay too becore you buy. Good luck to you. I used to be a prof embroider, caskets were my game. I loved it. Im not an emb snob, i just hate changing thread colors, and with this i have 12 colors and changing thread is as simple as knotting it and pulling it thru.