I have a 440QE. I bought the embroidery module as well. I can't comment on the price (honestly, I can't remember how much I paid for it. I do seem to remember paying about $1000 for the embroidery unit.). I will say this about the 440. I love it. Sews smoothly, easy to clean and understand. I haven't used the embroidery module yet. I don't do any embroidery yet anyway. I bought it to make labels with.
The ONLY thing I dislike about the 440 is the throat size. I wish that it had a larger throat. Here is a chart that I found. Maybe it will help you.
http://www.bernina.co.uk/smcomp.html