Originally Posted by
sandyl
I keep coming back to the BabyLock (Nancy Z). I may have to go look at a demo. Pricey, I'm guessing but I sure don't want to have to upgrade after I make a purchase of one. Buy the best, you'll always have the best. That phrase keeps haunting me if I only knew what the best was.... Thank you so much for sharing your experience and help.
I do have the Imagine - not for the threading, which is nice, but for the small footprint. I do small items and the larger/wider feet on the new machines don't help. I have no intention of trading up as it does all I want. I opted for the Imagine and a separate cover stitch machine.
Babylock had a model called the Eclipse which didn't have jet air, but did have tube threading with a wire. It did everything the Imagine would do sewingwise. It's probably still around under another name. I've used and threaded one, and it is easy.
Babylock just brought out new models that have people drooling, so there might be some decent used models available. They seem to be pretty sturdy.