I have the Janome 11000 and love it. I have used it primarily for piecing and quilting, just a little embroidery. I can quilt a baby size quilt or lap quilt with no problem. My husband bought it off e-bay-got a good deal. The biggest problem for me is that classes are not free (since I did not buy from dealer.) I would like to have classes using the embroidery aspect. It is a hard working machine and I have had no problems with it. mine has not been upgraded to SE (yet)

I have both the Janome 11000 and the Janome 9000. I love both of them. There isn't much that we can't do on these machines. The lessons are critical. There are video's available if you don't live near a dealership. Keep in mind the ones over Ebay also don't have a warranty. I wouldn't buy this expensive of a machine without a warranty.

Most dealers take trade-ins too if you have another machine that you would want to swap out.

an ebay dealer has one up for auction here:
http://cgi.ebay.com/JANOME-MEMORY-CR...item3f0197fddc

there's nearly a week left, so expect the final bid to be at least double what it shows right now.

unless they're rolling out a new model, the top price for the mc11000 is around $7,000 dollars. some dealers do not discount at all, some do. my local dealer sells it for much less than that. see my note above. i'd have called for his current price but they're closed on mondays.

if you can get it new for several thousand less than the price quoted by your local dealer(s), i think it makes sense to get it online. it's a great machine so even if you did have to take it to a local dealer for something, you'd still save a lot of money overall. dealers won't quote you a price by email but some will quote over the phone.

do not buy any machine in that price range without sitting down and testing it first. some people swear by ford, others by chevy. it's the same with high end sewing machines. they are all good but each appeals to different people. the fact that i love mine doesn't guarantee you'd love it as much. test as many as you can before you decide.

I love my 11000, but I agree with Patrice J, it is a major purchase. Try one out at a dearlership first. Before we purchased the one we bought, we talked (emailed) with the e-bay seller to make sure everything was on the up and up and of course we realized there would be no warrenty, but we did get a good savings. I feel it was worth it.

I had a Janome 10000 which I upgraded to a 10001 and loved it. Had it for 7 years with no problems but did keep up with regular maintenance which I think is a major factor in any machine. I recently sold it and since I had a wonderful windfall, went with the Babylock Ellisimo instead of the 11000 because I don't like that movable screen and there were some features I wanted that weren't available on the 11000.

However, I will tell you that for a workhorse of a machine that I think will be around for a long time, you can't beat a Janome! Check with Ken's Sewing in Muscle Shoals, AL. They have been the national leading dealer of Janome for several years which means they might give you a better deal due to the quantity they sell. I have dealt with them for 30 years and they are very honest people and incredibly helpful.

Good luck with y