I bought a Janome 6600MC almost 5 years ago and have never had any issues, it is a workhorse for me and runs like a dream. I was at a quilt show in Manchester, NH this April and took a FMQ class with Leah Day... they gave us brand new 8900s out of the box to play on for the day... just couldn't resist, took one home with me! I love the 11 plus inches of throat space and it FMQs like a dream. BTW, Leah is amazing and has FMQd on domestic machines for years... she is worth taking a class with.