I have Vikings and one small brother. All work great. The midrange Viking was fairly reasonable and is a workhorse. The Diamond was sort of a bank breaker...but it is by far my favorite. If something is not right when sewing with it...I know it is the operator...not the machines fault! Good luck with your search.

I love these threads. So many options and so many opinions. I'll be shopping for a new machine in a couple of years and this information is very helpful.

The best advice that I can give you is to buy from a dealer who provides SERVICE! Do not buy from internet where you have no place to turn when it gets out of timing or needs cleaned. I can not emphasize this benefit enough. Our local dealer will take phone calls, give you advise on how to fix it yourself or do a quick turnaround when ever you need it. It is priceless!

I had my first machine for over 30 years.
In 2001 I bought my first Janome. I now have four and will take delivery of the new MC15000 next week. As you can see I'm a Janome fan through and through. I can honestly say I have never had trouble with any of them. Test driving different machines and brands will give you some feel for the machines. One thing not to do is rush into it.

I looked up your town on the internet and can see you are quite some way from a city.

Could you do a weekend trip and try several dealers as well as brands. Not sure if you have Sunday trading in Kentucky. Have fun looking and trying them out. Make a list of what you'd like so the dealer will have somewhere to start.

Viking has machines with longer arms, if you just want the sewing and decorative stitches, the arm is 9-10 inches. It depends on how much you want to spend. Viking also has the automatic pressor foot lift which is neat. I have the Designer Rose deluxe which has a longer arm, it also does embroidery up to 8x14 inch design. They have cheaper ones with just the sewing features but also the automatic pressor foot lift. I enjoy mine.

I recently purchased a Bernina 710 to replace my Pfaff which I had about worn out. It was pricey, about $4,000, but worth every penny. It has every feature I have ever wanted and is so easy to use. I love it! My husband says I would sleep with it if I could!

I would first think about what features are most important to you, and go from there. Good lighting, needle down position, decorative stitches, thread cutter, automatic threader, knee lift. Sew on your machine for a few days and then keep track of what you like/don't like and make yourself a wish list. That way you can home in on the machines that have those things.

The 2007Le (Limited Edition) is a nice lightweight Janome which is one of the machines I own...I wouldn't give more than $100 bucks for a 7 yr.old machine. It will be good to you if it's had good care. If you want a "real" machine, used, look into a
'Juki TL98E.
Great size and weight. Love my Juki..I just wish it had auto thread, but it does have the auto cutter and wonderful straight stitch w/no fancy stitches...Got mine off eBay...If you want a lot of fancy stitches, look on Amazon at the Singer 9960..I recently bought that one, and really like it so far....Sounds like you need to do a lot more research. Go to Patternreview.com for reviews on machines...if you want to , that is...

I just bought a Juki 2010q. I LOVE it! It only does straight stitch, which is what I use 99% of the time. What it has that my super-fancy embroidery/sewing machine does not have is a needle threader, thread cutter, knee lifter, AND the ability to sew through more than two layers of fabric! So far, it's sewn through everything I've put through it beautifully! And it does FMQ to the best of my ability, which I have to admit needs a lot of practice!

you rarely see anything about Pfaff but I love my 4.0 quilt expression