Jim's Gem

I have a 630 and love my machine. For me a 9 or 12 inch throat is not big enough. When I can get a long arm, it will be a long arm, not something just slightly larger.

roselady

I am definatly keeping my 910. Knowing how much I will machine quilt is the question. Justifying the huge cost of the 820. If I decide I can't spend that much, that is where it gets confusing... the 400's, 500's or 600's each series has 2 or 3 to consider, although I am fairly sure I don't want embroidery. I know that I should consider other brands, especially because they offer a large throat space for several thousand $ less than Bernina, but I am so crazy about my 910...it's hard. I know that one option is to buy 2 machines that will do what the 820 would do, for much less $$, but I don't have a huge amount of space for several machines. Keep advising, it does help, thanks.

OCQuilts

Right! I was tempted to respond to that, but held my tongue.....until now!! The covers are plastic, but so are all of the brands. Bernina even still makes a metal machine. The 1008.

nursie76

My first Bernina was a 440QE, I bought it gently used and returned 3 weeks later and added the embroidery module. I loved it! Later, I decided I would like to upgrade to a machine with 9 mm decorative stitches, so looked at a 640, but then was offered a wonderful deal and traded it in on a 730, an awesome machine. Then for my B-day DH worked a trade and got me the 830 LE...my dream machine. I also had a 330 as a travel machine, but only 5 mm stitches and no BSR. So, on Saturday DH worked a trade and I now have a 450. It uses the BSR and has a 9mm stitch. Each time I traded, I got in trade value what I paid for the machine I was trading. So, if you settle on a 440 for instance and then later want more bells and whistles, you can trade up. I would say take some quilt sandwiches and got to your dealer and spend the afternoon and play with the various machines. Decide how much you want to spend...lowest and highest and work your way up. Good luck, please let us know what you decide.

soleegirl

get the 820.. with the larger throat.... I jjust bought one last week to go with the 440 i bought 2 years ago that has the embroidery module. LOVE them both..

Margie

I love my 830 it quilts beautiful and the embroidery is beautiful.

Kas

Very true. Sort of like the BMW of the sewing world. You get full value on a trade in unless it is ridiculously old. So far, I can't justify the 820. I am able to quilt a big quilt in my 640. The trick is to go slow and use the "puddle" method. It can be a workout, though. But I need a new van and those suckers cost almost $40,000!

RST

I have the 440 QE, and I do quilt full sized, Queen, and even one King quilt on it, free motion.

The features I wish I had (but won't upgrade because I can't justify the cost) -- larger bobbin, low bobbin warning, thread snip, and larger throat.

RST

slk350

Good luck with your puchase. This is very interesting to me, I may be getting another machine. I would like one that does FMQ. My Viking #1 died and not sure I want to have it fixed again.

nursie76

Oh yes!!! I forgot to mention the larger bobbin. After having to stop quite frequently to put in a new bobbin on my Juki when I used it on the frame and my 440 and 730 when I FMQ with out the frame, the larger bobbin is heaven!!! I also love that it will tell you the percentage of the bobbin left when it reaches 20% and then does a % countdown. I usually refill at 8%. Sweet!