I am partial to Berninas. My advice purchase whatever machine does what you want. I love my Bernina 1260 that I purchased at least 20 years ago. I purchased a less expensive "lighter weight" Bernina machine last year. It actually has more stitches than my older machine that was more than twice the price. It is much lighter weight because it is not all metal like the other machine. I wanted it to take to workshops and an annual retreat I go on. I did not want the built in embroidery capacity as I have two stand alone embroidery machines and a serger as well as a featherweight. Like someone else said go to a dealer who is close enough to you that you can take lessons and be able to get to them quickly if you have a problem. Having confidence in the dealer is also important. Good luck.