I have a couple of Vikings and all work really well. I started off with the Viking #1 with embroidery machine which just came back from being serviced and will go up for sale after I check to make sure it's doing what it should after being serviced. Then I got a Viking mega quilter; great workhorse machine. Only does straight stitch but is super fast and accurate and reliable. This past winter I bought a Viking ruby with embroidery. I'm still learning but so far it's doing great. I have an old singer (about 25yrs) and it's still going strong and I gave it to my daughter but Ive read on here they are always so good now days. I also have a 3 yr old Kenmore made by Janome that has lots of fancy stitches and it does really great. It's not finicky about thread and never needs oiling. Becareful where you buy your machines. One thing I've learned over the years is that companies make products differently for different stores rather its sewing machines or computers. So just because you can get a cheap brother at Walmarts; that's what you are getting a cheap machine with no support for it. If you have LQS in your area that sell machine that would be my first choice to check since they offer classes and you can try them out. You might also check to see if you have places like Sew n Vac they also offer classes and let you try it out. I never thought I'd spend as much for a machine as I did my Ruby but when you love doings something and you do it alot you reconsider and you want to do more. Get the best you can get for what you can afford. I'm making payments on mine and can't yet afford the embroidery software that would make it so much more fun but I figure that by the time I get it paid down and can get it I'll know the machine better and will be able to concentrate on learning how to use the software better. Good luck. There are lots of machines out there and for every machine there are tons of people with good and bad things to say about them; which is like every thing in life. It'll come down to a personal choice so take your time so that you'll be happy this time and can have fun.