Question for QuiltedSunshine -- how do you hold the thread tails if you use the automatic thread cutter? I really liked that particular option. I've seen various posts that other machines were too long or too short, but for me the Bernina was just right.
I loved the features of my 820. Big, well lit, easy to thread, extra large but proprietary bobbin case. I didn't find it difficult to use or understand and I made the decision that I could either learn and use the bells and whistles or I might as well keep with my vintage machine. The design of the bobbin case was part of what Bernina admitted to as a bad design decision. Because I have a high quality/heavy duty sewing table in my next machine I do want a top loading bobbin, but that is more because of the table and not the design of the bobbin casing. That wasn't what failed -- it was the sensor. I disabled the sensor and it worked fine for quite a time but as I said -- it seemed to have a timer on how long I could have the sensor disabled and by then the top sensor went too. BTW, the prices I found on line was that the bobbin sensor alone was about $200 not including labor.
The problem was the machine itself and its parts didn't work. It wasn't over use, most of the time before me it just sat. For the year it was in the shop it just sat. My vintage machine did fine with much higher usage for years and years and years (including when the .Bernina was out for repairs) And all I got from the local store was some sort of vague suspicion that it must be me and not the machine, and just a shrug of the shoulders that I should buy a new one. Trust me, I threaded it correctly, I used various threads to see if some worked better than me... The problem was not me. Doesn't matter to me that I got it for free -- it was the cost of a car (at the time) and it didn't work and the company did not support its product.