Waving High And Wide From Missouri...........I love my Berninas and would not trade them for another brand. However, I imagine most quilters would say the same for what they are now using.
My little 240 is great to carry to/from meetings and Project Linus Sew days; my 440QE I sold to my best friend and we now sew together weekly. My big machine is from the new Series8 and, while it is touchy with link in the automatic cutter, I love it. I got the one without the embroidery feature because I want to freehand motion quilt more than anything. It has plenty of embroidery straight-line stitches, designs and lettering anyway. Very expensive yet extremely durable for my numerous hours of sewing daily. Good luck finding what you want and welcome back to an old hobby.