I have had mine for a year and have been very pleased.
I followed these instructions for getting the tension:
http://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f1...t-t114933.html
Mine will sew with any kind of thread. I did originally have a thread breakage problem: There's a wire thingy (technical term) on the upper thread tension dial that the thread goes around to guide it into the uptake mechanism. I noticed that when the thread broke, it was because it got wrapped around this wire. I put a small piece of tape (like 1/8" X 2"), from the body of the machine onto the dial, covering the loose end of the wire guide. This fixed 95% of the thread breaks, the other 5% seem to be if the thread gets fouled up near the spool, but this is really rare, like once every 2-3 quilts. Since I use mostly the same weight thread, I don't have to turn the dial to play with the tension. If I do need to change the tension, I just unstick the end of the tape that's on the dial.