I agree you should test drive. I had yearned for a Viking for years, and a few years ago went to a dealer who carried many brands. He left me at a Viking to "play around with it" while he answered a long question on the phone. When he came back I was still staring at the "dashboard." He showed me what he bought his wife, a Janome. I bought it, came home and started sewing, checking the skinny manual infrequently as I sewed, while friends who bought more expensive machines in the same period were still reading their thick manuals. I had wavered over Pfaff with its built-in walking foot but thought it would get in the way. I bought a generic walking foot three years ago and just now started using it, just because I have it -- my machine seems to feed smoothly without it. I do agree with the comment about the open-toe darning/free motion foot, but I bought one at
http://www.sewingmachinesplus.com/quilting-supplies for $13 or $14 which works just great.