Buy the best you can afford, I have heard that the Janome is a great machine. A little advice try out some machines at a dealer, when you buy one, buy from a dealer and take some lesson, or you will never use it. I have at least 3 friends that have purchased embroidery machines and have NEVER used that part, they are afraid of it.
I have a high end machine and I use it a lot, I am glad that I purchased the one i did, have had it a little over a year. Have had no real problem with the machine, only with the thread. Some threads work better than others.