I bought my college bound g'daughter a Janome Jem Gold for her dorm. She's in love with it. It was also my first machine for carrying to quilting workshops and I loved it too. It's the least expensive of the Janomes and sometimes you can catch a sale. It's a real work horse, I've been using mine steadily for so many years, in fact since the year it first came on the market. You can't go wrong with it. 8)