I agree with the above. Go test drive some machines. I made sure I tried not only different price ranges but different brands of machines. I settled on the Janome 7700. It is my 2nd Janome and love them both. Also make sure you have a local dealer who can do repairs, answer questions and hopefully offers free classes to teach you all about using the many features of the machine. Mine gives free lessons for the life of the machine. Good luck.