I have the 870 and, after some practice, we are now friends. _:-)_ What I couldn't get used to was having no foot lever. Drove me nuts until I figured out that I can raise and lower the needle to check placement of the fabric. I also went to a Kinko's type store and had the manuals spiral bound into one set; so many options, I refer to them constantly especially if I've been away from the machine for a while.
I think you'll like it. It's certainly a nice machine and offers lots of features.