I'm quite fond of the Viking as I've had my Designer 1 since 2000 and really haven't had any issues with it in all that time. If you have and use the program Embird you won't need any extra programs to use either machine or at least not for the Viking one. Plus I just found out that all my feet for the Designer 1 can be used on the Designer Diamond machine so if I ever have to replace this old workhorse I'll probably go for the top of the line Designer machine. The Viking seems to lots of extras that some of the other brands are just now coming out with on their machine such as the foot height adjustment, saving special stitches you've made, thread cutters and threading the needle automatically. I'm sure some of the other brands already have these items but my old D1 has had them since 2000. I also have a Babylock combo which I use strictly for embroidery as I love my D1 for piecing and apparel sewing. The Babylock and Brother are basically twins in what their machines have, just different names on them. Best bet is to go stitch on the models you are checking out and see which one feels the best for you and has all the things you're looking for in your last machine ever. Just watched a video on I think a Brother machine that has an open arm for embroidering on those hard to reach places. Very interesting but only an embroidery 1-needle machine and not very large in size either so won't take up much more room than what I have now.