I have the Janome Horizon 7700 and I love it. There was some bad press when it first came out and Janome has corrected a few things - they came out with a new foot that is a new 1/4" foot.
It has the built in walking foot, and there are several feet available that fit with that technology.
I find that by using the walking foot, and moving my needle to the right, it is great for piecing. The needle can be positioned from far left to far right in tiny increments so setting it for a perfect 1/4" seam is easy.
It has the 11" throat and comes with the acrylic extension table.
The thing I like with Janome is that most of their special feet and attachments come with the machine, so you're not putting out $$ for your machine and then having to buy extra feet and attachments.
It also has the knee lifter which can be detached if you don't use it.
It has enough lights on it to light up a ball park.
It has the needle down button, it has a thread cutter button, it has an option to use the go/stop button or the foot control. There are hundreds of stitches, and they're so easy to access by using the front dial with your finger to just scroll through them fast, fast, fast - until you find what you want and then just push the button and go.
So, yes, go out and try different machines. Test them all. But don't only look at Pfaff and Bernina. You do pay a lot just for the name.