Well, I have three Brother sewing machines, including a QC1000 which has everything, and I love all of them. They do NOT need oiling, and require little maintenance, other than the usually cleaning to get lint etc out. All three have many fancy stitches, 15 different pressure feet, thread cutters and automatic needle threading. The QC1000 also has two needle plates, push button drop feed dogs, an LED screen, and more features than I will ever use, including diagonal sewing! It also has a BUS port to connect up to the Brother site via the internet to download any new stitches that come out.

I would recommend a Brother to anyone.

I've been reading all your posts and have searched the board for information on various machines. Today I went to a shop that carries Bernina and Janome. Thought I'd just try them on for size. A friend of mine says there is no such thing as just going to "look" at puppies. I guess it is the same for sewing machines. I bought the Horizon. Won't get it until next week but I'm very excited.