Janome and Kenmore girl here.

Love my Bernina 550. I didn't find it pricy compared to the other Bernina machines.It does everything I want it to do. I didn't want one with embroidery capabilities being a new quilter when I bought it. I have been quilting now for 4 years and sure am not sorry I opted to buy Bernina,.I also took the free classes that came with the machine, smart move.
Good luck with your choice.
Mia

I have a Viking Sapphire that I love and several Brothers.
Brother makes a good machine and is reasonably priced. One is less than $200.
Even have a cheap under 300 dollar embroidery Brother that is a great machine but only does a 4 in design and uses a card.
Will buy Brother when my machines quit.

I love my Brother NX600 - it's about 9 years old now but have never had a minute of trouble with it. I also have a Viking Iris, which I leave set up just for embroidery (but it is for sewing too). My issue with Viking though is everything extra for them is SO expensive !! Then I have my Janome 6500 Memory Craft Professional, which I LOVE !! I have never had to adjust the tension for FMQ on it.
Just do what everyone says and test drive.....

Now that we have totally confused you - write out a list of what you want and don't want-take samples what you do like a quilt sandwich and try them all out- Good luck finding the perfect fit for you. (I'm a Janome and Brother gal!)

Janome- I too have 5 of them and LOVE my Janome's.. I just treated myself to the 15000 combo machine; nice companion to the 6600 and all the rest. Love it