I have the Ellisimo and don't mind changing things out. I had to sell my Janome 6500 to be able to afford and justify the Ellisimo. I love my machine, but will say that Janome products are much sturdier and have more metal parts. For my money, I would go with the 6500 and use the attachment type walking foot though. I had the 6600 which had the dual feed system and it was extremely cumbersome to change the feet. It is nowhere as easy as using the IDT on a Pfaff (which I also had). In fact, I have owned at one time, every brand of machine out there except an Elna and Janome beats them all hands down for durability and dependability.