This is brilliant- thankyou so much for all your help and replies. I personally thought the shaft was a bit off kilter, because the jam was so unusual. Generally the needle would break, but this time it jammed hard and the tech said he thought the needle had bent which was why it was so difficult. I am still mulling things over regarding a trade in. I got a backdate on my pension so... I do have a small lump sum to play with. I had hoped that the 7700 would be with me for a few years when I bought it, but of course high end machines in anything are so twitchy, if one thing is slightly off then of course it wont perform to its highest capability, a bit like formula 1 cars!
The thing I would love to have on the 8900 would be a pivot for the foot so you dont have to keep lifting the presser foot for weenie applique pieces but of course, DH has pointed out more computerised things mean more stuff to go wrong.
I didnt know anything about the Pfaff machines which on paper are comparable and they have all the bells and whistles. I am going to do a more in depth check as I ahve always had Janomes.
By the way, I adjusted the bobbin case as suggested to about an eighth turn to the right and the stitches are reasonably even now. Not a 100% but do-able
Last edited by irishphoenix; 03-10-2015 at 08:43 AM.