I know how difficult it is to make a decision on a major purchase. I have two Berninas and love them. My first one was a QE153 quilting machine. There was an instant love for the walking foot. A few years later I decided I wanted a machine with a few more decorative stitches. I went back to my sewing machine shop and played around with the Bernina 440 (I think). It had lots of stitches that I wanted but then I saw the 640E that had decorative stitches in 9MM wide also and it had the embroidery module. I decided that if I was going to spend a bunch anyway, I should go ahead and get it all. I love the embroidery part also. So the message is, check out all the features that you like and then decide on the brand. I'm sure you won't go wrong with either machine. Have fun