When I first bought a sewing machine I was looking at Pfaff or Bernina. I decided for the Pfaff due to the IDT. 15 years later I am a Pfaff lover and would not trade it for any other brand. I have upgraded and kept the first one. Just recently I bought a used Creative Vision and was only embroidering with it until I used for free motion. I couldn't believe the difference. It is like overnight I acquired a skill that didn't have.
Good luck. I think that the only opinions you should value are those coming from people that have both machines because test driving a machine for 10 minutes doesn't really show you the potential.
I think the best advise is to ensure you have a good customer service for the machine you buy.
andrea

I have a Bernina 430 and a Pfaff Quilt Expression 4.0. The Bernina seems to just sew, not many issues. Never really had to adjust tension too much with it. I have finally conquered my Pfaff and enjoy FMQ with it. It took me quite a while to warm up to her. I love the extra room with the Pfaff, that was the main reason I bought it. That being said, I wished I would have bought a Sweet Sixteen for FMQ. My Bernina lives in the closet........

I have had nothing but headaches with my Pfaff expressions 2.0 Guess I just got a lemon, because Pfaff has a great rep. In my guild.

I love my new Janome 7700 with it's 11" harp. I also bought a new Bernina 710 a month ago and it has been in the shop for over a week now because the bobbin case with bobbin inside are jammed in the machine and I cannot get them out. Three others report the same problem. I can't imagine this happening on a drop in bobbin. There have been lots of problems reported with the new 700 series Bernina's. In addition they have some new design features that are peculiar. I'm not sure you get what you pay for anymore with Bernina machines.

Candace is right.

My 1 month old Bernina 710 has been in the shop for a week because the bobbin case with that huge bobbin is stuck in it. This has happened to two others that I know of. I can't get used to the push button presser foot either. I'm starting to regret my purchase. There have been lots of problems with this new 700 series.

Whatever you do, be sure to try out many machines. That is what I did. I ended up with a Pfaff Expression 2.0 and I love it. I have been quilting 3 years but sewing 55 years. I love the wide throat, the built in walking foot, and the drop in bobbin. There is no way to put the bobbin in backwards, something I always did in my New Home machine, which is the machine I had before I bought the Pfaff. I still have the old machine, but it feels like a toy compared to my Pfaff....and it is noisy. My Pfaff isn't.

Enjoy the hunt!!

Dina

I would love a machine with a 10 inch harp. I have a Bernina that is about 14 years old and love it. I don't have that nice space though. Have you considered just buying a straight stitch machine with a nice size harp. Janome makes one. I don't own it but thought that might be nice as my Bernina does everything else so nicely.

I'm a Pfaff girl, but I know some Bernina lovers who wouldn't consider any other brand. Go figure. I guess I'd suggest you test, test, test out your options. I'd also make sure you have great dealer service. I think every now and then, there's a lemon in the bunch regardless of what brand you choose, so knowing you have a good dealer in your corner is important.

I have bought two Vikings in the past two years, a Ruby and the latest a Diamond deluxe, both were made in Sweden. If you check Vikings website it will tell you they are made in Sweden; it's at the bottom of the comparison list on the machines. Even my boxes for my machines say made in Sweden. I'll go with what Viking says over rumors any day. I'm not saying that all machines are made there but the ones that are on the embroidery comparison list going back to the Viking #1 all are. I don't know about Pfaff but they are owned by the same company as Viking. I love my Viking and I love my dealer. If I didn't have a Viking I'd either go with Pfaff or Janome mainly because the LQS here for Bernia has poor customer service and rude employees and I wouldn't want to have to deal with them on an ongoing basis. Along with the machine which you should try out first, check out the store and employees and support you'll get before deciding on what to buy. I think all machines will have lovers and haters of them but some of that could be due to the lack of customer support of the dealer they deal with. I'm down on any brand because I see some things in all of them that are great features but I look at them as a whole along with the store that sells them. I love the snowman feature for the Brother but then there are other features that my Viking has that brother doesn't that makes it stand out. Weigh all of your factors and then decide what is a good fit for you. If you are looking at embroidery too, then also get the largest hoop you can afford.