I love my Janome 6230, but also love to sew on my vintage machines. One thing about the newer machines, that I miss on the older ones, is the needle up/down feature. Have sewn for many years without it, but now that I have that feature it is the one thing I miss on the older machines. When I went to buy, friends told me that feature, plus the dropping feed dogs were the 2 things to look for. They did right by me!!