Mickey, Have you ever used a Bernina with the BSR attachment? I have a 710 with a BSR and it is not magic. If someone is already proficient at FM, their stitches MIGHT be all even and perfect. There is still a lot of skill involved. I can't imagine how the BSR would help with topstitching, it is not made for straight line stitching and there is no guide to help line up with the edge. Normal stitching would be far superior for this.
Originally Posted by
Mickey2
I find the new Berninas very quiet and smooth even though there is a difference to the old all mechanical models. Janome 8900 is a quiet and very nice running machine too, not all Janomes are as nice as this model when it comes to noise and feel. If I could just go out and buy the Bernina 740 it would be my first choice. It depens on what you can afford at the moment. For free motion and top stitching Bernina's stitch regulator is the only feature I really want in a computerized machine. It gives perfect even stitches, all same size when free motion stitching. It just seems so nice for quilting, top stitching details on pockets, etc. I'm not that experienced when it comes to free motion. It's hard to predict in advace, it's something not often realized until a few years later, but I lean towards the Bernina because of their consistent quality and their features. I doubt there are any better machine out there. What ever you choose it will be an improvement on your Pfaff. You have to go to a shop and test sew on the Bernina and the Janome models in question :- )