I'm in agreement with everybody here - don't get a toy machine. My feeling on the Hello Kitty machine is: even though I know women who have bought them to take to class and love them, let's face it, teens are very self-consious and when those 8 year olds get to be about 12 they're not going to want to sew on a Hello Kitty no matter how good it is. By the time they're 30, they won't care anymore but when they're teens it's not gonna be cool. I have 14 and 16 yo daughters and I know this. So either plan on replacing it with a "grown up" machine in a few years or get one of the Janome Jems. Or, if grandma would like the Hello Kitty to take to classes, buy that one now and trade with grandaughter for another machine in a few years. Then everybody goes home happy!