Hi Quilted Sunshine,
I just wanted to say that I have the Bernina 630 and it is a lovely machine. I got a great deal on it here..... I got the machine, the embroidery module and the Bernina Stitch Regulator for the grand price of £2300 (brand new). You are right about the quality of Berninas now... I believe (though I could be wrong) that only models from the 630 up are made in Switzerland any more and I think they have stopped making the 630 completely.
Hugs
Caroline
Originally Posted by
quiltedsunshine
Um, no... the 440 is outdated, and we haven't sold them as embroidery machines for a long time. It's a fabulous machine for sewing, but it's much nicer to be able to download to at usb stick. Really, you don't want to have to be hooked up to a laptop computer to do embroidery. You'd be better off getting a 560. The price on that is around $3,000 with the embroidery module. I would avoid the Bernette Chicago 7 like the plague. A Bernette is not a Bernina. Quality on a Bernette is not any where near what a Bernina's quality is. My Dream machine is a Bernina 630. It takes the usb stick, has an oscillating hook system, and is a very solid, well-built machine.
Good Luck in your search!