I purchased my Performance 5.0 a year ago at the end of May. At that time my local dealer had them priced at $2599 and was going to allow $500 trade in on my Creative 1475. I was able to sell the 1475 outright for $800 so had more down payment. I then took advantage of the 24 month 0% interest option. Additionally the purchase price included lessons, 2 years free service and a 10% discount on all purchases for 1 year.
My dealer recommended to use the machine some before taking classes so that you'd know what you'd need more info about. I took my classes a few months later in October. In the meantime I did watch this
very helpful video from Village Sewing to get me started. I also had the advantage that I was using a Pfaff Performance 2058 at the time so the learning curve wasn't too steep.
I'm very happy with the machine and recommend it without hesitation. I've used it for piecing, free-motion quilting, simple clothing and mending. I haven't used the decorative stitches often but it's my goal to incorporate them in more projects in the future. My experience with my Creative 1475 and Performance 2058 (which I still have) gives me confidence that the 5.0's decorative stitches will turn out wonderfully.
(In case the link above doesn't work here it is separately
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8wlJAcMhiw)