I lkie the no foot pedal on my little Brother. Nothing fancy, but almost my favorite machine.

I forgot to mention speed control on both the Brother and Janome - great feature. Also both have needle up/down, drop in bobbin for quick changes. The bobbin winder on the Brother is totally separate from the stitching so you can refill bobbins without having to rethread the needle.

Just made it back from Wichita, only went to one dealer that sold Janome. I was worried about the pfaff machine not being built in Germany any longer and the changing of hands as you said. The salesperson had one there and brought it out and showed me the differences in the pfaff and a janome 3160. I ended up buying a new machine that has no auto cutter :cry: no auto tie off :-( no knee lifter but it does have a threader. Oh, and the walker foot is extra $$; but this machine is built like a TANK!! It's a new Bernina 330. These machines wasn't even in the running when I first walked into the store, but after looking it over, trying it and the janome, even though the janome had everything I wanted, I opted for the Bernina because it feels very solid. I hope I don't regret not having the frills, but I do like the machine. I'm very excited. I bought it, a walking foot and the salesperson threw in a 1/4" foot free. Oh, and the machine was on sale for $959, walking foot was another $130. Now I just gotta get it paid off so I can get it home and play with it :D
Jack

Glad you found one that you like. That is the most important feature of any machine. Happy sewing.

Needle up/down and a lock stitch.