Hi Quiltncrazy....
I HAVE a Janome6500 and LOVE it... The difference in price between it and the 6600 was not worth it for me to go the extra $. I had to put it on layaway for 6 months cuz I could not buy it out of pocket. Hubby and I are retired and on a very fixed, fixed income, so being able to afford the 6500 at all was a dream but hubby said to go for it. If I actually only had to pay $7-15 a yr, than it would be a consideration, but that is not how you get to pay for things.
When I win that all evasive lottery, I will buy all my dream machines including a long arm, LOL.
sue