I have a Janome 7700 but I wanted something that exclusively did embroidery. I opted for the Janome 350e because I can download to a thumb drive to embroider designs. From what I understand, the 300 is a little different to get the transfers. Anyway, that said, it has been worth the money and it was not much more than you were quoted on the 300e. I buy my designs from the internet for $1 - $2 usually (for a group) so I'm getting quite an extensive amount and not spending much for them.