I have been reading all the wonderful responses and I have to ask now that you have read them, and you end up getting the 6500, will you always be wondering if you should have gotten the 6600? Just a thought. I have the 6600 and still absolutely LOVE it!!! It has made many a beautiful quilts for me from start to finish with never a problem with the machine. I LOVE the built in walking foot/accufeed. I chose not to upgrade to the new 7700 as I Love my 6600 and the other feature that I like is the totally separate bobbin winding in which the 7700 does not have it. Shame on Janome for eliminating that feature. I know the 6500 is a great machine too. So you have two good machines with different features and prices. Good luck. C.