I have the Crescendo, and like Scraplady, chose that brand because I could get very good service locally. Almost every day I find myself saying how much I love this machine. That laser light is the bomb. It also FMQ very easily - perfect tension, plenty of space. Great lighting, solid and quiet, perfect needle threader - and that walking foot is fantastic. I also have the fancy foot controller that can be programmed and I love that too. There is one tiny thing that does annoy me, and that is the needle will become unthreaded if you aren't right on the edge of your fabric. The cut end is just a tad short I think.