I have a Brother 1500 and the auto cutter leaves about 1/4" lengths of top and bobbin thread. It's fantastic to use when paper piecing, saves a lot of thread. I use it for quilting too. I turn the stitch length to 0 for the last few stitches and then auto cut. It's easy to snip the tails so they won't show. I have won Viewer's Choice in several local shows so I don't care if the judges like it or not.