I have the Janome 8900. It is a great machine. It has a very wide harp-11". Makes a beautiful stitch, and has the Acufeed foot. It has a good serpentine stitch that I use a lot. I payed around $2400 for mine which included the table that fits around it. Love it! I agree that you need to sit down to try any machine you are interested in buying. You can then tell which one "feels" right for you. That's what I did. Good luck to you. This is a great time to buy. There are lots of sales going on.