Originally Posted by nursie76
My first Bernina was a 440QE, I bought it gently used and returned 3 weeks later and added the embroidery module. I loved it! Later, I decided I would like to upgrade to a machine with 9 mm decorative stitches, so looked at a 640, but then was offered a wonderful deal and traded it in on a 730, an awesome machine. Then for my B-day DH worked a trade and got me the 830 LE...my dream machine. I also had a 330 as a travel machine, but only 5 mm stitches and no BSR. So, on Saturday DH worked a trade and I now have a 450. It uses the BSR and has a 9mm stitch. Each time I traded, I got in trade value what I paid for the machine I was trading. So, if you settle on a 440 for instance and then later want more bells and whistles, you can trade up. I would say take some quilt sandwiches and got to your dealer and spend the afternoon and play with the various machines. Decide how much you want to spend...lowest and highest and work your way up. Good luck, please let us know what you decide.
Very true. Sort of like the BMW of the sewing world. You get full value on a trade in unless it is ridiculously old. So far, I can't justify the 820. I am able to quilt a big quilt in my 640. The trick is to go slow and use the "puddle" method. It can be a workout, though. But I need a new van and those suckers cost almost $40,000!