I have a Nolting and I am happy with it. It is a simple, free motion machine. I have a Nolting dealer 45 miles away. I have found that a dealer close by is important for questions, as well as maintenance.

I have an APQS LUCEY...love it...great machine, great service and I am in Toronto so I was concerned about servicing...did need a new part once and it was at the front door the next day or two and I was walked through the repair myself...a breeze....have owned it for three years and really enjoy it...

I think there are good machines in each brand. You can't go by just testimonials like everyone has said, try them yourself. Things I might put up with a machine you might not like at all. There are a lot of different things to look for in a machine and only you can decide what is what. I bought mine because of, price, testimonials, and a good place to buy from. Yes a big ticket item that you should spend time researching a lot. Also depends on how much you think you will use it and if you want to make money from it to pay for it. So so many things to think about. Have fun in your quest.

Buying one of these machine is like buying a car. Get yourself to a quilt show that will have these machines demoing so you can make a wise chose. You NEED to test drive all of these machines you listed plus any others to find out what will work best for YOU !

got my machine at a very good price and the dealer is within 30 miles that is why I bought mine it was used and yes I did try it out. Yes there are a few things I would like to have on the machine but I decided I did not want to spend the price of a car to do my playing I do not intend to have a business.