:mrgreen: Welcome abord....glad you join us....The janome has a good reputation and most of the people are happy with them...I have an old janome ...and somehow I mennaged to break the gear and then discover that the gear was really a very cheap plastic........, I also read some bad reviews about the Janome 1500...the one that does straigh stitch only and free motion.....It seems has some tention problems....
I own a brother XR65 with extansion table that I really love...
I bought the brother PQ1500 two days ago,since I wasn't interested in embroidery machine but more in the stippling....
What ever you choose, make sure you have service available for your machine.
...My mother in low has two brother machines for more than 20 years and they both works...and she really uses them......a lot.....
If you thinking to make big quilts....make sure you buy a machine with a big throat....
Good luck