Quiltingboard Forums - I got a new machine yesterday!!!

I looked at Elna, Janome, Brother, BabyLock and Bernita. I didn't not look at Plaff, Viking or Singer.

Bernitas are awesome. And REALLY expensive. I couldn't afford their machines.

Janome was the machine I walked in, expecting to buy. Honestly, it might have been a good machine. The sales man fumbled a lot, wasn't able to find a FMQ foot, etc. I didn't really get to play with it much. And for the amount of money, I wanted to get a really good feel.

Elna Excellence was my second runner up. It has an 11 inch throat space. Ran beautifully.

BL was next and that is when I realized this wasn't going to be an easy choice.

The Brother Laura Ashley is pretty much the BabyLock Symphony. I looked at the Brother last and got into a conversation with the sales lady, who was also a shop owner at a LQS I've been to before. After talking to her, I admit she heavily steered me towards the BL/Brother machine and away from the Elna. I was struggling because the BL was REALLY bouncy compared to the Elna. But the surfaces they were sitting on were very different. She promised me that when I got it home, off a flimsy card table, that it wouldn't bounce. I told her they needed better tables next year. :wink:

I went back and gave the Elna salesman a chance to convince me the Elna was better than the BL and he just couldn't.

I loved the Elna's 11 inch space and I loved the storage for the feet.

However, the BL's touch screen feeds my computer geek side. I love the 460 stitches and 3 alphas. I think the pictograms are larger. I love a lot of the functions of the touch screen.

When I went back to the Elna and attempted to use it alone the second time, I sitll had very little clue what I was doing.

When I went back to the BL the second time, it was like I had already sat through a class. I could start sewing with no assistance.

Oh and I picked the BL over the Brother because of support store location and the package deal. Prices were the same.