I had a Bernina 570 that....turned out to be a problem machine. I got it fairly early when it first came out. I had it into the shop several times and they could not fix the issue (jamming and bird's nesting in the bobbin area). The issue would just happen out of the blue as far as I could figure. I even left the fabric in the machine to show the tech and also took a lot of pictures that I shared with him. Well finally, I just had enough with the 570 and traded up to the 590 (yep, for some extra dollars). I have loved the 590, it does have a few extra features then the 570. Now, when I have read reviews, a lot of folks do like their 570. I read later with a software update for the machine, that there had been an error where the tension did not engage right at some point in time. This may have been the problem with my machine and if so, it would have been corrected in that software update. I have and have had several other Bernina's all of which I have like or loved. These include the 440, 630, red machine (215), the 475, and the 590. The lower numbered ones are easier to learn to use, the higher numbered ones are really great machines but also you need to really take the lessons that should be offered by the dealer and are not really take it out of the box and run with it machines. I do love my 475 and 590 more and more each time I use them and learn something more. You actually will never run out of things to learn with the higher end ones. Bernina does offer some free workbooks and video's on their website and also there are several Bernina dealers out there that also offer online info. Hope this helps. Oh, and if you are mainly wanting a piecing machine, I would seriously look at getting a 5mm stitch plate machine vs the 9mm one. I just fine it easier to piece on that one. I actually now have two of the 5mm ones the 215 and the 475 to mainly do piecing on and I have the 590 (9mm) which I am now going to use mainly for decorative stitching and embroidery and sit down quilting (larger neck). Good luck and have fun.