Hello from England - I bought the 7700 about a year ago at a show. It's not the machine I thought it would be - I work them very hard and thought that, being designed for quilting, it would be more robust. So far the auto tension is iffy, the machine is quite noisy and after only 9 months it began breaking thread and missing stitches because it needed more cleaning than the basic. I thought I would invalidate my guarantee if I tried anything ambitious re cleaning. It's a lovely size and I do use it a lot but it will never be the work horse that its predecessor was (sadly traded in). Sorry - terribly negative but you did ask!! Regards, Jacki