I have a Baby Lock Ellisimo, and that is top of the line for Baby Lock sewing/embroidery machines, it is both an embroidery machine and sewing machine. I use it 99% of the time for embroidery, but also have two other machines that I use for sewing. The next step up is the 10 thread embroidery machine and they are a few thousand more. I use my x large hoop 99 % of the time. I do a lot of special tote bags for my family and friends, as well as other things.
My suggestion is to go to good dealer that sell different machines, test them all, then you will see what feels good to you. It is like a car, no one likes the same one. I have had a lot of various sewing machines over the years and I like the way the baby locks preform for me. You might not like them but they are not as fussy as some others that are even more expensive. I have had a Singer, White, Elna and brothers machines and Baby Lock seems to work well for me. I do a lot of heavy duty stuff and need something that will hold up to that. I do a lot of purses with extra padding with a lot of layers to sew thru. All machines are not meant to do that and if they can be broken I will be the one to do that. I killed the Singer and also the brothers. Guess I am just to hard on them. Singers seem to go out of timing very EZ and that costs you a lot of down time. I belong to a Sr. Center that has about 10 or 12 Singers, that are always needing repairs, because of that. I also don't like a machine that is fussy, and that is what I have found with Singers. The old little ones everyone loves, that's ok for just straight sewing, but any of the machines that were build in the 70's seem to have problems for some reason, but as I said before, you need to go and test a few machines before you decide what you want. If you go to a good dealer, they have people that know the machines and can help you with them. They also have classes to teach you some of the things you need to know. My first embroidery machine I purchased from a shopping channel, had no support and I was afraid to try it by myself.