Fws are the best if you ask me.

I have an older Janome Gem, and a featherweight for classes. The Janome Gem stays in the trunk of my car. I always have a back up for classes and workshops.

The new Costco book (10/3/13) has a Brother XR1355 on sale for $134.99 that's $35 off the reg price. I bought a Brother machine from Costco awhile back...I am so happy with it. They both have all the bells and whistles a quilter would need and it's lightweight...

yes, I just looked through the flyer and saw this machine. Looks nice. Worth looking at. ...have to keep it a secret from DH who will not understand why I would need another machine. Lol

I love my Janome Gem Gold

Featherweight! I love my featherweight. And, even I can lift it! (still in recovery from back surgery).

They're great, they're durable and relatively simple to thread (I did it right the very first time and without a manual!)

Jeanette Frantz

I'm in the minority here.. I don't like the idea of using a smaller machine when I'm sewing at classes so I just put my Juki 2000 in a rolling case and off we go. I was going to use my older, lighter Janome machine (my Juki replaced her for all my straight stitching which is mostly what I do anyway) and I just missed my Juki so much that I bought a rolling case last Black Friday at Hancocks and haven't flinched.

My guild is a very active one so my Juki goes on the road with me a lot... I also went to Harbor Freight and bought a wheeled utility cart which I put in my car (all my seats fold flat) and when I get to the workshop, I unload my wheelie cart... put my machine on top and then put all my supplies and whatnot on to the cart and just wheel it in to the building.

I guess the point in the end is... is one of your machines able to fit in a wheeled case? You might miss your regular machine and end up not liking what you are working with and have more frustration than it's worth... and a case is a lot cheaper than another machine ;)

The one machine that has a hard wheeled case with extension handle is my janome 12000. I bought the case thinking I would use it but the machine is so darn heavy coupled with my concern (maybe it's unfounded) of causing tension/computer issues by moving the machine and having it jostled in the car while driving that I thought it best to keep it home. I have yet to sew anything on this machine as I use it for embroidery.

I got a used jamone gem from where I brought my new home 8000. Paid $125.00 . All attachment fit the jamone gem. So I didn't need to buy any new attachments.

Love my Janome Jem Gold!