I've had the Ruby and loved it so much. Then last yr I got the Diamond Deluxe for a great price so I traded in the Ruby. The Diamond has he largest hoop out there and has so many features. Like thread postioning, it basically makes your top thread design and the bottom look the same way. I never have had to adjust the tension, it does it all. This is a good time to make a decision. This month is the Viking convention and they unviel the latest machines. The other thing they do is offer dealers the chance to buy the new machines that were used by the dealers to learn new things on. The dealers then take them back to their shops and sell them as used machines but you get all of the perks, warranties, classes, etc that comes if you pay full price. I saved literaly thousands last yr on my Diamond Deluxe. I know that this weekend my dealer had the Ruby Deluxe for around 4500, which is really good. Go for the biggest hoop and the best support from the dealer that you can get. The best advice is to try and go to the stores and try them out and see how they feel. I've used a Viking and a Brother, both have great features, I do love the feature that Viking has that the Brother didn't and that is if you hit the start button or the foot pedal, it automatically puts the pressor foot down and the needle. You can also get demos on the website of these machines. Well, I know that Viking does so I assume that Brother will too. Good luck and beware, embroidery is very addicting, very fast.