A wise person (quilter extraordinaire) once told me that if I was buying a new or new-to-me machine, I should try to get one that can be worked on locally .... that is, one that has a repair person near by just in case. Beyond that I have a Pfaff Grandquilter that is great and the Juki is similar and gets rave reviews also. They only straight stitch but they can stitch up to something like 1200 or more stitches per minute so that when you get good, you can really go to town! lol The Pfaff has a thread cutter button, needle up/down button, knee lift, speed control slide, and a needle threader among other things. The harp area is larger than a regular machine and although they like to drink oil, there is not much to go wrong on them as they are not computerized. Good luck with your hunt. It can get very confusing "out there".
Last edited by KLO; 11-20-2013 at 05:01 PM.