I have been doing embroidery for 15 years or more. I LOVE sewing machines and have had them all - well almost all. I started out with a Viking Rose, got an 1+, had the Pfaff 7570, then a 2170, then the Creative Vision (they've lost me for good on that one), Had a Brother 8500, a ULT 2001 & 2003 - (wonderful machines), bought the Babylock EMP 6 needle, and now have the Ellisimo. On the way, I had a Janome 10001 for about a month, a Viking Diamond for a few months before I bought the Ellisimo - I'm sticking with her and my EMP6. I sound like a millionair, but honestly just buy and sell at the right times. Many of my machines were used, and everyone who bought my machines ended up very happy. And I've never gotten a bad machine. I use Ebay and the yahoogroup sewitsforsale - love it. So don't think you have to stick to a lower end machine because of budget. There are many nice used machines out there - for instance the Brother ULT line was a great machine imho! TOL a few years ago and dependable and has a large hoop, and you can pick up fairley reasonable.
I think all the current machines are pretty equal in capabilities - they've all caught up. I love the Babylocks because I hate Disney so won't buy a Brother, and think these are great machines - ease of use, embroiders wonderfully.
Judi in Ohio