If you have access to a dealer for all three, you should go and try them out. I have several Janomes and love them but others will say the same thing for the other two brands! Yes, dealer support is very, very important. Make sure there is someone on site who can do repairs and classes are a must too! I'm fortunate to have a first class dealer who is wonderful person as well. I must travel over 2 hours to get there but don't have to go often and he sells me accessories (at a good discount) by mail when I want them. There is a closer dealer but I didn't like how they said some bad things about other brands. But the three brands you're looking at are all very different. Personally, I did not care for the Brother machines, yet they have lots of bells and whistles and tons of fans. I liked Bernina but the machine I was most interested in had bobbins that cost $3 each. Ouch! So take your time and find the machine that's right for YOU. You need to find a machine and dealer that click with you. I had been prepared to buy a Brother, then a Bernina, but ended up with a Janome. As I said I have other Janome machines so it's a brand that I'm comfortable with.