i have my viking for about 15 years and it's still as good as new.

the people who like their machines seldom bother to put in reviews. only the people who are dissatisfied and angry do that. i think there must be 1000 people who like, to 1 person who doesn't like anything. you never hear from them.

I tend to agree with you I will be using some of my retirement funds to buy whatever I buy so I would like to be as sure as possible I'm not buying a defective machine however I think viking would stand behind their machines

I havn't ruled out repair I'm just weighing the option of the repair expense against a new machine.

Well, had the Sapphire 870, and the stiching on the stippling was terrible. I brought it back and the manager adjusted it , and still left a lot to be desired. So having the designer SE, I returned the sapphire and bought the Mega Quilter. I am so happy with that one. For less then a thousand, I have a super machine, and can do my own quilting, I would assume to a king size.

[quote=mic-pa]if you're satisfied with it in all other ways, why not just have it repaired. it won't cost as much as a new anything. if the repair isn't that expensive, and you have your heart set on a new machine and can afford it ...then shoot! fix the one and get another anyway.

I have a Sapphire 870--and I love it! I was doing some FMQing with it yesterday and it turned out beautiful. I also have a Viking Designer SE, which I also love. The extra space in the harp with my 870 is so nice to have. My husband was adjusting my 870 and needed it for a day, so I went back to the SE to do some of my FMQing. I felt so cramped in there--couldn't wait to get my 870 back. I used to use the SE as my primary machine, but am thinking it will be the 870 now. I will use the SE for my projects that need embroidery.
You might be able to get a pretty good deal on an 850, as they are coming out with a new updated model, the 855. The only difference between the 850 and the 855 is the 855 has a decorative tapering stitch. I chose the 870 (instead of the 875...) because I doubt I would use the tapering stitch anyway and I saved a lot of money.

I'v made my decision I will get the Janome fixed if it is a reasonable price because it does every thing I want and need, if it is reeeal expensive I will take my time and look at other machines thanks for all of your help

you may already know this, but you can 'drive' a viking at some joann's stores.

I have a Bernina Virtuosa 153 Quilters Edition and it is about 6 years old. I have never had a problem with it. You can probably find one at a dealer where someone has traded up for a very fair price. Have no fear, just do a little research. Google this one, as I did today, and you will be surprised how the price has dropped!

I have an older Viking also and it runs great. However, I have heard that the new Vikings are not all that great since they are not made in Sweden any longer. This is true of almost all the new machines today...so we are going to have to adjust to that as we have to replace our great old ones!

This site is good for reading reviews on machines. http://sewing.patternreview.com/SewingMachine/Reviews