Hey Tom:
Looks like I'm a bit late getting my two cents worth in, but here goes anyhow.
I started my quilting career off with a Janome Jem Gold. It served me well both as an at-home machine and to take to classes and workshops. It's light weight, easy to use, as in "user friendly", has some good features, and works like a charm every time. A big plus was the price, around 200.00 to 300.00 depending if you get it on sale or not. I believe my hubby got mine on sale (it too was a b'day gift) for $200.00 complete with a case and many attachments. So when I was ready to upgrade I went for the Janome Platinum (I've been using my "Jemmy" for about 7 or 8 years now.) I wanted something that would do just a little bit more and I wanted a new model. I bought the Platinum 760. It has everything I wanted or needed. I keep it set up at home all the time. But I still carry my Jemmy with me everywhere I go, even on long trips. I've never, I mean NEVER had a moment's trouble with either one of them. I, of course, take good care of them and have them each serviced every year like clockwork. Ya don't mess with a good thing! My dealer tells me Janome also makes Singer now as well as Sears. I think your wife would love to have a Janome. If she's not up to date with sewing machines, she may not recognize the name and think it's some kind of knock off, but it's definitely not, and it's way up there in consumer's reviews.