In my opinion, I feel you get more for your money with a Brother or Babylock, especially if you are looking at the less expensive entry level machines. The lower cost Bernina's, the Bernette line are not something I would want.
You might want to consider a used machine, with so many new top of the line models out in the past couple of years you might get much mor efor your money with a traded in machine.
If there there were only a Bernina dealer from which to choose a machine I would rather spend $400 on a used Bernina than $400 on a new Bernette.

I have owned and used several Janome, Brother, BabyLock, Singer, Husquevarna Viking machines and they all have their good points. I have a Janome 6600 that I love because of the Accufeed feature. I have a Husquevarna Viking Saphire 870 Quilt that I love for fmq. I purchased a stitch regulator for the machine last year and I love it. I attended an Evy Hawkins Event sponsored by my BabyLock dealer a little over a week ago. I had planned to take my BabyLock Ellegante sewing/embroidery machine to use for the hands-on projects, but my dealer told me I didn't need to bring my machine because he had one already set up for me. (You can see this coming, can't you? LOL) I used a new BL Ellisimo and fell in love with it. Traded my Ellegante in on my new "Ellie". It is an embroidery/sewing/quilting machine. FMQ is so easy. Just push a button and it changes all the settings and drops the feed dogs and you are ready to fmq. It does a beautiful job. Can you tell I'm in love? LOL

Having said all that, you need to find a reputable dealer that will be there for you when you need them. I have had the same dealer since 1969 and wouldn't think of changing. Dealer support is very important.

Some sellers on eBay offer free shipping. I bought a Brother XR4040 for $69. It was refurbished, works great, and came with the 25 yr. warranty. It is a computerized machine but has some quirks I had to get used to, since I learned to sew (last year) on the Janome I also bought on ebay. I bought the Brother to take to classes because it only weighs 11 lbs.

I love my Berninas and would suggest that you find keep an eye out at the closest dealer for a really good trade-in, if you decide that you would like one and don't want to pay the price of a new model.

I have ONLY owned two Berninas and I STILL am quilting on BOTH of them. I first bought a 1020 which was a basic machine and then bought later the top of the line (at that time) a computerized 1530. They are both over 15 years old and have ONLY had a slight problem with the 1530 with a piece of plastic that held the bobbin in place. You know what features a quilter would want. Be sure to try to shop this Friday because that is the time that the BEST prices can be had. GOOD LUCK !!!

I have used Bernina, Kenmore, Pfaff, Nicchi, Janome and Brothers machines. I loved my Bernina but it was very heavy and the parts and service is very expensive. The Janome was good as well , but the dealer here was not at all helpful or friendly. I found the Brothers dealer and loved the machine and the service and courtesy I get there is well worth it. And the Brother machines, even the smaller less expensive machines that are sold by a dealer are excellent.

Janome is still making the Kenmores, yes. Last year I got a brand new one in the box with a bunch of attachments for about half the usual price at the Sears outlet here and it sews just fine. I would like a Bernina or an older Viking someday though. Every time I go to the local sewing store that's INSIDE our Joann's, I look at their used machines.. they come with a basic warranty and the store does layaway, which would be a huge help for me to get a better machine than I could otherwise afford. All they sell is Viking/Huskvarna, not Bernina though. There's this old Viking +1 they have that I keep eyeing.. it was their top of the line machine back when. I've demo'd it in the store and it still sews like it's brand new. Someday..

I would pick Bernina. I have used Singer, White, Brother, and Bernina. The Bernina just makes a beautiful strong stitch with any thread. It is easy to use and the main feature is reliability. I never have to have anything done to it except the regular service. My Bernina is the 180E.

I just bought a Bernina 440 QE in September. Things to consider - I NEEDED a dealer close by. I have vision damage and some things I simply can't do because I can't see. I would have been happy with Huskvarna or maybe even Pfaff, but no local dealers. I was choosing between a Janome (roughly $1,400) and a Bernina. The Bernina won out because of a special in financing as well as closeout pricing. What do you need to do? I think the embroidery features are cool, but it wasn't a feature I NEEDED. In addition, it simply isn't practical for me to have my computer attached to my sewing machine (newer ones will use a flashdrive, which solves that problem).

I totally love the Bernina Stitch Regulator (BSR) for quilting, but again, if not for the special pricing and financing, I would have probably been just as happy with the Janome. Just having that extra 2-3 inches between needle and motor housing made quilting so much more pleasant. Also, the Mastercraft 5200 has a wider zig zag (7 mm) than my Bernina (5 mm) - something that is important for some quilting techniques. The Berninas with embroidery do have wider zig zag (9 mm).

Finally, talk to folks who fix machines. They can tell you the duds as well as cost estimates to fix things. I thought those computer boards would be uber expensive to replace, but apparently anywhere from $100-300 depending on your machine. If you have a mechanical machine, you can actually do most repairs and maintenance yourself.

A very simple Bernina is the Bernette and I actually thought of getting one of those for a class machine since it is so much lighter than my Bernina.

Wow... no one has mentioned a "Silver" brand machine. I almost bought a special quilting one yesterday for a little over £600 (British pound sterling) and am still considering it. Are they only sold here in the UK? Are they horrible? Are they sold under another name maybe?