Janomes are great! BTW the new release this morning! M7....13.5 inch harp space. Wow. Bought at 15000 last year, not in the market, but caught my eye. Back to our Class machines, I have a 3160 and 4210 I haul around. I have found that a needle up/needle down feature is good as well as an auto thread cutter, since most of our classes are piecing. The auto thread cutter is a must for me now. ....and with my Skyline 7 and 15000, I am spoiled to the auto foot lift.....wish they could put all features on all machines....they keep stacking up at my house. Ha!

Just a thought to look into the Eversewn machines. They are supposed to be great.

Have the Brother 6000i and love it. Bought one for my DIL, one for my GD and my best quilting friend bought one as well. It's light, works great, no problems.

For those with the Brother CS6000i, can you adjust the stitch length and width?

Yes you can.

I have 3 Janomes but not the Gem. A friend of mine has one and is very pleased. She uses hers for classes and RVing.

I have a Janome Gem Platinum that I got for classes. I love that machine.

I have a Janome 7000 I've have sence 1988 never had it service ?? Still works great . But I do have embroidery machine Baby lock . I love to , sew on it every day .

Myself and three ladies in my sewing group have the CS6000i, they work great, light weight and you can buy generic feet online at Amazon, etc.

I believe only the Jem Gold models are still available in new. They do make an excellent class/back-up/toter machine but they are so very basic that its easy to miss needle up/down and you can't move needle. The few stitches are fixed..meaning you can't adjust length or width. Having said that..the quality is exceptional and that little Jem actually has a 1 amp motor! So the really stand-out features are its durability, bit more power and the fixed stitches are perfect, though few. The hook area is solid as a rock and i don't see any plastic there like what we see now even on much pricier machines in all brands. With so many quilters now very accustomed to auto cutters and start/stop, variable needle, you have to be aware of what you're NOT getting if the Jem appeals to you. I have one and like it very much - she pieces like a dream with the clearview 1/4" foot! I don't need more than a reliable straight stitch for any classes i take. I have other machines w/ computerized features and love those too but simplicity sometimes is refreshing also especially when the quality is there and the stitch is perfect!