Trust everyone. I have an old bernina (almost 40 years old) and a newer one about 4 years old. Wouldn't have anything else. As far as threading you don't have to "thread" anything but the needle everything just slides in place (and you have a needle threader) once you get it figured out you will love how easy and quickly it threads. Bernina's run so nicely. I had a repairman tell me a while back that he doesn't repair Bernina's because they just run for years and years. Enjoy if there is anything specific i can help with let me know.