Hello
so, I went with the S9 because it had WiFi capabilities and if I remember correctly one more hoop than the 9850. That being said I wasn’t thrilled with the S9. It’s a fantastic machine, don’t get me wrong, but it seemed a little bit awkward for me to use. This could be because I have never used a computerized machine before, I’m not sure. I used it to do several blocks on a quilt, did some embroidering (SO much fun!) and tried some appliqué stitching. The appliqué was hard to do, because of the foot pressure. I adjusted it to the least amount it would allow and I still had a hard time following the curve I needed to stitch. After playing with it I became more familiar with the computerized side of it but still didn’t feel like the right fit for me. I ended up exchanging it for the 15000. I know this seems like a huge jump, it wasn’t what I thought I’d do either. I went with this instead of the 9850 because it has the acufil included, which I wanted (I’m awful at free motion quilting! along with several other accessories and bigger hoops. Also, the quilt shop I purchased it from had a phenomenal sale and I know I won’t be upgrading again for at least 20 years if ever. Had the sale not been going on, I’d have exchanged it for the 9850 without a doubt.
I hope this helps! Try out both if you can and see which one feels right to you. When calling around to locate ones to demo I found 9900 is almost the same machine as the 9850 and more dealers seem to have this one in stock to demo in the store. Not sure why.