I was also playing with the idea of buying a top line machine and finally bought myself the Janome350 E..... It seems to be working great by now and no magic box needed..... And of course it cost so much less.... I hated the idea of spending a lot of money on a machine that may be won,t fulfill my dreams, and this one seems to be so perfect for me......but I think it really depends on how much you want to work with it and what are you planning on doing....there is the spece limit.....mine came with two hoops....I had read bad reviews about using the mega hoop with my machine...?.... Well, good luck on whatever you decide and let us know how it works...