I bought my machine about 8 years ago. I was looking at the Janome Memory Craft 4000 at the time and the dealer had marked it down from $1200 to $999. It had 150+ built in stitches plus many more great features and I was very tempted, but decided to wait and see if I wanted it badly enough to spend the money. My mother loved her Kenmore so I decided to see what Sears had to offer.... I found a Kenmore with the same features for $599. Had no idea at the time that Janome made the Kenmore machines. Anyway what I'm trying to say is find a Janome that you love and then see how it compares to Kenmore. I absolutely love mine. Good Luck!