I have had an 830 for 2 years now and have made more than 50 bed sized quilts. It is used for piecing and I do all my own FMQ. I have a thread cutter on the side that I never use, and have no experience with auto thread cutters but this is one heck of a work horse of a machine - rarely a day goes by that I don't sew for at least 3-4 hours and up to 14 hours on weekends. I can't imagine a better sewing machine out there and I purchased mine 2nd hand (low hours on it) from a local dealer.