i have the bernina artista 180..i am very happy with mine quality wise but find as i also bought mine second hand i dont use my machine to its fullest so I think lessons would be a good idea.
I paid $1500 (australian dollars)for mine on the 11/08/2006.
The things I wish I had are a low bobbin warning and a bigger throat as when quilting it is hard to fight the quilt to turn it the way you need it to go. Also check if yours comes with a walking foot as I think mine cost me $150 later.
The things that i like the most about it are: needle/up down and ease of changing feet.
I dont use the needle threader as it seems to take longer to use that than to thread it by hand. I also havent used the knee lift..yet.
It depends on what you want the machine to do. i am pretty happy so far just using the basic stitches even though mine came with the embroidery modules which I havent even played with yet :oops: :oops: Good luck to you which ever way you decide to go. if you have further questions dont hesitate to ask. I dont know how much help I will be but will answer any questions honestly. Dont rush into buying it and if you think you will be doing more quilting then maybe seriously think about a machine with a bigger throat...i was thinking of the Janome 6600, so maybe have a look at that to see if you would be happy with the features that it has. Let us know what you end up doing.