Prism99

All metal parts doesn't mean a whole lot these days. If the metal parts are not machined to high accuracy (the way they were with the vintage machines), wear on the parts will occur, parts will weaken and break, and the machine just in general will be noisy as it sews. Plastics have come a long way since they were first introduced. It's true that, when plastics were first used in sewing machines, they tended to be the first parts to break. However, the plastics used in today's machines are considerably different. Plastics used in high stress areas of the machine may be similar in strength to metal, and I would guess it is easier and cheaper to form plastic to very precise machining measurements than some metals. A side benefit of non-all-metal machines is that they are lighter in weight; all-metal machines tend to be so heavy no one wants to try to transport them to classes, other locations, etc.

I just don't think the "all metal parts" issue is a good reason to buy one machine over another. Plastics these days are very good. What matters more to me than "all metal parts" is how finely machined those parts are. Crude machining will product a noisy machine that wears out fast.

Plus, how do you know it's all metal? Can you open up the machine and test all the parts? Is the "all metal parts" included in the published literature about the machine? Or is it someone just telling you this? I would think that someone who wants an all-metal machine should be shopping for a vintage machine.

Edit: I would note also that neither of the machines seems to have the needle-down feature, which is a feature quilters often use.