I had a singer ( just a cheap one to get back into learning to sew) and then got hooked on quilting so bought a White Quilter Star 1780. Was in love with it for about 5 mos. then the auto. threader broke, (which was a bummer but could live with out it) then the whole thing started to act up after only 8 mos. called JoAnns where I bought it and they said to bring it to them ( I live 50 miles away) and then when I got there they said I had to pay $90.00 to ship it back to Ohio and I said "No way" Finally found a man in a small town 2 hours away who fixed it for me for $90.00 and it has worked ever since and that was 3 years ago. Don't know if I had a lemon or what. I did 6 mos of research and thought for $350.00 (which is all I could afford) was a reasonable piece of machinary. I do know that if I have to buy another one I will make sure I try one out. I do like the feature of needle down and a lever for speed control.