Had a kenmore sewing machine when I thought I would like to try machine embroidery. Looked at a used brother 8500 and had a half hour lesson from seller. Decided I loved it and after a year bought a Tajima 15 needle and never looked back. Liked a lot of colors in my designs and disliked changing the thread all the time. Love the tajima. Have since upgraded my sewing machine to a Janome 6600P a year ago and am trying to quilt. On the embroidery side if I was buying again I would not spend the big $ on the software (pulse) but would go with Embird it will allow you to use the formats that most embroidery machines use and does a lot. Am not that much younger then you. Like to stay busy enjoy my toys.