Make sure you have a great dealer, its as important as the machine is. I can't say negative or positive about Berninas. First, because ALL machines have lovers and haters as do most things in life. I didn't even consider a Bernina when I bought my Vikings because of the dealer in our area. I don't care for their customer service when I've shopped for fabric so I'd never want to have to deal with them for something as expensive as a machine. I only go there when I've searched every place else and can't find what I want. Also, try out the machine and check the warranties and what you have to do to get it fixed. I take mine to my dealer and the repair person is on site and is great. See if there are classes if you need them. Will they answer questions that may come up after the sale, no matter how experienced with machines they have thier off days and do wonky things and its nice to call and get help if needed. Good luck. I love all of my Vikings. I've used Brothers and they sew nice. Both machines have (and don't have) features that I'd love to be on mine but the ones mine does have are more important to the ones it doesn't have. We all want different things from our machines.