I'll jump on the Janome bandwagon. I have 3 of them, although none is an embroidery machine. But I wouldn't trade any of them for another machine, unless of course another Janome. Please check out this brand...they are wonderful.

I have two Janome embroidery machines the MC9000 ( ? 1st embroidery model) and the Janome 15000. I have had no issues with either one. After I bought the 9000 my mom became ill and by the time I could go for lessons no one
at the shop had experience with the older model. I purchased the 15000 on Ebay new for less than 1/2 what the local shops were charging. I have had no problems and love it! There are tutorials on line on how to use it and boards that answer my questions. I went with this model because it interfaces with my apple ipad and computer, a big plus for me.

My advice would be to have a stand alone embroidery machine. I have a Janome 500E and it is an excellent machine. Many times when I am sewing apparel I need to be using both machines at the same time. Also older machines are sometimes more expensive to repair than buying a new machine and when you pay a large sum for repairs and service you still have an old machine, just my opinion from my experience. Many machines cannot be fixed because parts are not available anymore. Good luck with your shopping and I hope you are sucessful.

The launch of a new Brother Top of the Line is August 6th, (it will be very pricey but probably fantastic & out of my league) but Brother also just recently introduced 2 other new combination machines that look fun, the 1750D, only has the 4 inch hoop, and the 2750D (the one that has me lusting) has many more features & larger hoop & would be in your price range. The dealer I saw yesterday said there might be special prices with the launch of the new machine. Dealers are kept in the dark until the Brother conference in August. I'm a big Brother fan, especially for embroidery, user friendly & I love the Disney of the D machines. I've had Brother combination machines since their first Disney machine in 2001, very easy & fast to switch back & forth, but I also have a sewing only machine set up when I'm doing a lot of embroidery.

Janome Girl here too! I agree - my 9400 is an amazing machine and such a treat to sew on. In my collection, I have a much older Janome, Memory Craft 3500 which just keeps on sewing. I recently sold my Janome 7700 and it was a great machine as well. Then there is my Janome Longarm and also a small Necchi which is part of the Janome line. All of them have been solid machines!