I have the 6500 and have been unhappy with the length of the snipped threads in the back. However, I think that length is necessary to prevent the needle from becoming unthreaded when the machine returns to the sewing position after the thread cutting.

they brought out the red-front 8900 in response to all the complaints that the 8900 was not as snazzy looking as the 7700.
as far as i know, there is no difference in the machines themselves.
if the red one comes with all the in-the-box goodies as the "plain" one, snap it up.
much better price; and in about 50 years it will be a collectors' item. LOL

I bought one about 3 weeks ago and love it so far. I got the one with the red front. My dealer said that they were limited edition (the color). It's exactly the same as the one with the plain front (which they were selling for the same price). I just did my first free motion over the weekend and the large throat space was HEAVEN! It is very quiet and powerful too:-) I don't know what to do with all the stitches yet, my dealer offers free classes when you purchase a machine from them so I am looking forward to getting some instruction on how to use all the "bells & whistles".