I appreciate all the help I can get!! I don't even know what a puck drive is -- LOL -- so obviously I need to do more research before I even begin to buy a sit down. The Elna dealership is about as close to me as the Janome. There is a Janome dealer about 45 minutes away so I may have to break down and go there. I just worry that it's a long way to go to take it for service -- but then hopefully it won't break like my Bernina has. In my area, we have Bernina, Babylock, Juki, and Brother.

I own 3 Janomes of different years and performance and wouldn't trade for any other brand. As far as living close to a dealer, I have only once had to have mine serviced and they are used weekly. I keep them clean and change needles, etc., for good maintenance. I am very happy with mine. Mine are all mechanical but one is an industrial and the other 2 are not. I have noticed that my friends all have their electronic machines in for maintenance much more often than I have to...all brands. Good luck.

I have a Janome 8200 and a Bernina 740 (plus my first Bernina, a 1260, that is 25 years old and runs perfectly). I like them both but will say that Bernina is made with more precision. The Janome presser feet have more movement when sewing then Bernina. Berninas are more expensive but deliver value for the extra cost. However, I don't think you can go wrong with either one.

Every machine requires trade-offs between price, features, dealers, etc. You have to decide on your priorities.

tee hee....I am no help.....I prefer to quilt on my APQS Lucey....simple long-arm....no bells and whistles...but has a 26 inch neck and a 12 foot frame, need up/down, stitch regulator, leveler bar, and one manual channel lock...what more could I want....my getting down on the floor to baste a quilt together is long gone as is the shoving a queen sized quilt under a sit-down....If I attempted to do those things today, I would have to get a tow truck to come and get me off the floor. I had a Bernina 440 and a 630 but traded those in and now have one of the new Bernina 570's which I do like so far...but I am sticking to my long-arm for the quilting. I also picked up a new Bernina 215 which is a simple machine but light enough to take to class....and it just has the 5.5 mm feeddogs which is so much easier to piece triangle pieces with a 1/4 inch seam and I just may use that to piece all my half-square triangles with...but....I haven't had my classes on the 570 yet so I will have to see....so far...I have lost some of my triangle points to the wider 9 mm feed dogs on the 570.

Take the time to try out the Janome's. 45 min. drive really isn't that much. It takes me 30 to get to the repair person I use & 40 to get to the quilt shop if there is no road work. I liked the Janome I had 5-6 yrs ago but the dealer was closing up shop & would not offer any deals. I get a Bernina for less plus credit for trade in. If I were to go for a Janome now it's 1-1/2 hr drive.

I went to the Janome dealer yesterday to look at their Memory Craft 15K. I knew I couldn't make a decision until I had tried that machine. The MSRP on this machine was $1299.00 but it was a floor model and the price was 7999.00. I really liked the machine so what happened next was discouraging. I'm not sure what the problem was but the lady demonstrating it had broken thread while sewing the embroidery, a broken needle, and there were small gaps in the embroidery sample (it did have stabilizer on the sample). I asked if there was a way to changed my Bernina-format embroidery designs to a file this machine would be able to use and she said she didn't know of any. I've spent a lot of money on designs that are the Bernina format and I hate to lose those.

On the way home I stopped at the local Bernina dealer. Until the end of September, I can trade in my broken Artista 730 and get the new Bernina 790 for 9375.00 or the Bernina 700 embroidery-only machine for 4500.00. I would also have to trade in all of the feet and accessories that came with the Artista. If I weren't so gun-shy about another Bernina, this would be an easy decision. I am planning to go look at the Babylock and Brother today but the price on both of those will be higher than the Bernina because of the 25% off MSRP deal. My head hurts!!

The process of selecting a machine is time consuming, a bit overwhelming and usually ends with spending more than originally planned. I think you're doing all the things you need to do in order to make the right choice! If you're not 'in love' with a machine then keep test driving until you find the perfect one! Enjoy the process :)

I went from a Bernina 640 sewing/emb to a brother dream creator. The brother is much quieter & I love it!! I sold the hernia. Look for a machine at your dealer that was used in a class.
Mine was used in one class, therefore they knocked off $4,000 off the price!!

Drive to see/ try Janome! I prefer separate machines for embroidery and quilting. I use a brother for embroidery, very intuitive and easy to use. While it is stitching out a design nearby, l can quilt on my Janome 8900...l♡ ve it!

I drove to see the Janome MC15000 yesterday but the person showing it had some problems. Look at my post right above. I totally agree it would be nice to have separate machines. Embroidering can take a while on some designs. I do like the look of the new Bernina 700. While I was looking at it a customer in the store from out of state stopped and told me how much she loved that machine.