I bought the Janome 1100D and love it. It's very study and smooth, with beautiful stitches. I also have a Coverpro1000. I spent a lot of time looking and comparing options. I'm happy with my choice. Unfortunately, I may have to sell them in the near future as I'm moving to a MUCH smaller house, but the 1100D is a great machine and you wouldn't go wrong to buy the 1200 either. I tried the Babylock and it was flimsy (in my opinion). It jumped all over the place. I tried the Elnas which were very similar but cost more. I did like the Jukis but wanted two machines as that's really ideal. I tried Bernina and Singer, Viking (have to send it far and a long time if you need service), and felt that the Janomi was the cream of the crop for beautiful stitches and a solid machine. My 1100D has a tilt needle which makes it easy to thread. The self-threading Bablylocks cost about double the price and weren't as solid a machine. Good luck with whatever you purchase!
To thread it I usually just pull the threads through. You really can do this most of the time and other times it's easy to thread!!