zozee

Patrice, you pretty much confirmed my hunch that I wouldn't be unhappy with a Skyline (first world problem, anyone?) but happier with 8200.

I bought a bona fide universal Janome table a couple weeks from off Craigslist, for a very good price, in hopes of sinking the 8200 or 8900 eventually. For now, I fenagle with my small Janome in it.

I considered the 6600 but it doesn't have a free arm. That's important to me. I COULD do my hemming on another machine I have, but I think an all-in-one machine is very attractive. I keep trying to figure out if it's a deal breaker.

I test drove teh 8200 and loved it. Test drove the 8900 and found it to be less intuitive and more machine than I need. (Well, to be quite honest, the word "need" is something I hate to use because I don't earn a living with my sewing. The word "want" when it comes to hobbies is much more realistic.) That said, I found a one-year-old 8900 on CL for half the cost of a new 8900. Wonder if I should seriously entertain looking at it? It's a 2-hour drive. Hmmm....

Decisions, decisions.

patricej

yes, it's worth the drive.
download a copy of the manual from the janome website.
then you can be sure the current owner is including every little bit and piece that came with it. (reasonable exceptions would be the bobbins, needles and seam ripper; perhaps the screwdrivers. all of those can be picked up elsewhere for not much.)
ask lots of questions and test drive it like a maniac.
what you think you need now will be very different to what you know you need a few years from now. any one of the machines you're considering will inspire you to grow and expand your sewing/quilting horizons [pun intended. LOL]
it will take much longer to "outgrow" your next machine if you get more than you need without spending more than you can afford.

just make sure that whichever machine you choose is the one that gives you tingles.
our opinions (especially my own) are likely biased and so should be taken with a grain of salt. LOL

JustAbitCrazy

No free arm would definitely be a deal breaker for me. And if there's a used 8900 for sale 2 hours away, what are you waiting for? Get in your car and get going!