It really goes back to what most will tell you, no matter what your price range or what you want, test it out. I love my Vikings, they have them in all price ranges and most dealers offer classes on any machine. Even our local sew n vac place has classes for just about everything, from quilting, serging, emb, sewing, you name it. I used to love to see the Janome commercials and love their machines. After owning several Vikings, and taking lots of classes where they use Brother and owning an Ovation Serger from Brother, if it wasn't a Viking it would probably be a Brother. First of all, I like the Viking and Brother dealers around here so that's a big factor, you need great support. I have nothing against Bernina but don't care for one of the shops here and since I only go there when I can't find what I want else where I knew I wouldn't want to deal with them for customer support. I would also recommend a used one bought from a dealer, most have had them serviced before selling them and most offer the warranty but the savings are great. My Diamond Deluxe, had one minute of use from being set up for potential use at the convention but I saved thousands on it because it had been "used". I got all the orginal warranties, classes and the extra's that come with a new machine.