I've had my Bernina 770 for almost a year, I love it! I had the 750 which I traded for the 770. I was not at all happy with the 750 and was given the opportunity to upgrade with just a minimal additional cost. Now I have the machine I thought I was getting in the 750. When I bought the 750 I tried every brand I could get my hands on. Bernina had the advantage for me because the machine I'd been sewing on for 30 years was a Bernina that I loved every time I sat in front of it. For me it was less about comparing bells and whistles between the brands, and more about which one just felt "right". I had a small list of "must haves" but after sewing on a 30 year old machine, many new machines had those. I haven't had any service issues at all with my 770. I am 3 hours from my dealer/ tech and haven't seen him since I brought the machine home. Since you say you like your Janome, I would suggest you spend a long time sewing on the Bernina to see if it is really so much better/different than your 8900.