I had a low-end Brother that I passed on to a friend and she loves it. It has the drop-in bobbin and was very easy to adjust. My problem was that I would forget the settings on a stitch and would forget to reset the stitch. Some of my work looked a little wonky as a result.
I have a Pfaff 7530 Quilt and Craft which I consider my backup machine. It runs beautifully like so many of the older Pfaffs (still made with Pfaff Craftsmanship). It has the built-in walking foot, low bobbin indicator (which can become useless if lint blocks the sensor), needle up/down selection, and more stitches than I need. I have a custom extension table that goes with it.
http://www.quiltersreview.com/articl...t/001002_a.asp
I don’t like that it only has a regular-sized throat area and the lighting isn’t very good. It also is a bit temperamental and wants to pull the seam down into the feed dogs (I could buy a straight stitch plate if I wanted to to divert that problem.
My Pfaff 1200 GrandQuilter is a 1600 stitch-per-minute straight stitch machine with a large throat and I have it set up on the frame. (Only no gumption to use it at the moment.) It is a mechanical machine that drinks a lot of oil. Tension can also be a little tricky.
http://www.pfaffusa.com/272_2846.html
Last year I added a Pfaff 2058 and we never managed to become friends. There is nothing at all wrong with the machine – geesh she has more features than I know what to do with and it got good reviews. She sews very smoothly so it is mostly little quirks that bother me. We are just not compatible. I payed $1,300 (the 2058 is a discontinued model that will be supported by Pfaff for a long time) and want to sell her for a decent discount.
Because Pfaffy and I never bonded, I just spent a long time researching machines. Checked out the Janomes (and did not like the way their walking foot works. Also found them a little rough compared to the Pfaff). Looked at the Babylock Quest but it didn’t have all the features I wanted. Then I ordered a Singer that seemed to be a combination of the Janome 6600 and the Quest. I really really wanted to like it because the price was nice! But – she ran like a tractor, skipped stitches, jumped in the Free motion process, so I sent her back to HSN.
Ended up with a Babylock Espire that came with 4 classes, so right now “Quilla” and I are becoming fast friends. I love the way she handles. Funny thing is, she does not have the built-in walking foot (which I thought I had to have), a drop-in bobbin (which I didn’t want to have), and no low bobbin indicator (which I thought I had to have). She has sooooo many neat features that I am even considering sewing some clothes. Now she is not a cheap machine but to me – worth every penny.
http://www.babylock.com/sewing/espire/
Babylock has one of the best warranties in the market and currently they are sponsored by Eleanor Burns and Nacy Zieman. I respect these women but that was only one factor in my decision.
Regardless of what you get. TEST DRIVE!!!!! Have a list of features you need and a list of features you want, then see which machine (price point) matches with the most features from your list.