eparys

I have had the brother CS6000i for several years. It is light weight and sews beautifully. I use it for classes as well as Guild sewing days and works fine. It has a small harp - so if you plan on FMQ I am not sure how it would work, but for piecing it is great.

Pam S

I have had a Brother CS6000i for about 4 years. Take it to classes, retreats, sit and sews. I chose it so the feet would be interchangeable with my larger Brother. It's a really nice little machine for the price and I have offered to buy one for my daughter but she says her Featherweight is all she needs.

peaceandjoy

My "main" machine is a Bernina, much too heavy to carry to classes. So I got a Janome Jem Gold for classes. That lasted about a NY minute. Upgraded to the Jem Platinum. Not much better. Like sewing on a toy. Gave up and got a Bernina 220, which I love. Bernina stitch, sews through anything and everything, and is a bit lighter than my other machine. For me, all plastic was not the way to go.

shasta5718

I have the Janome Gem and it has been a good machine and only weighs 12 lbs. It has enough stitches for variety if you need it.

Jennifer23

My mom had a Janome Jem for a number of years. She upgraded to a Janome 3160 about 6 years ago, and I would highly recommend it as a class/travel machine. It weighs about the same as the Jem, but is a full-size machine. It's extremely quiet; she can sew kitchen and my dad 15 ft away inthe living room doesn't have to turn up the tv. It's been a real workhorse of a machine.

Maire

I have, or had, both machines. I love both, the Brother CS600i has more stitches, more flexibility, The Janome Jems are wonderful too. The Jem Gold has preset stitches so you can't change width or length but is very strong and sturdy. There is also a Jem 720 & 760, they re computerized, more expensive and have more flexibility but I think are discontinued.
You can't go wrong with any of them, I gave the Brother to our oldest granddaughter, and Jem Gold's to younger grandchrildren-great machines for children wanting to sew.

SuzzyQ

I just bought myself a Pfaff Passport 3 for taking to classes and quilting group. Light enough for me to lift, good features and the feet are interchangeable with my at home Pfaffs (they have the adaptor). But the hood for travelling (?) is stupid. Whoever designed that missed the mark totally. I'm not packing it for shipping so why should I have to use the Styrofoam on the ends then put the hood on and put everything in a cardboard box? Hood will probably get tossed since I have a travelling case to transport in my car. No padding or special protection but I'll deal with that myself.
So yes, check how a machine travels....

L'il Chickadee

I had the Brother CS6001 that I recently gave to my daughter who needs a working machine.
*The machine is lightweight, the box says 18.7 lbs. (Why do I still have the box???)
*One thing for me was I couldn't figure out why the stitches were running off center to the feed dogs/stitching area. Then one day, after several years, I woke up and realized I was using a factory default stitch, the basic stitch is stitch #1. Duh! So if you get it remember to set it to stitch #1.
*The Brother bobbin packs at Walmart don't say what part number they are or the model numbers for that bobbin. So that was a minus for me with the Brother company, I want specifics.
*I used mine for travel, it fits nicely in a medium size carry case, doesn't need a roller case.
*I will say I had to stop and readjust my thinking whenever using it as my other machines are Bernina's.
Overall it was a good little machine.

Belfrybat

I have the Brother CS6000i and really, really like it. It's going strong after 6 years. As to the above post about stitches, it has a piecing stitch that is an accurate 1/4" but preset to 1.6 length which is way tiny so I bump it up to 2.0. It actually stitches as well as my $3000 Janome 8900, but of course, has a small harp which is why it's perfect as a travelling machine. I also have a Featherweight but much prefer the modern convenience of the Brother. I had a Janome Gem and didn't like it at all. No way to adjust the stitch length except the presets and the machine just didn't sew as well as the Brother.

Oh, as to the bobbins, all class 15 Brothers take a class 15 bobbin, so there's no need for a model number. A few Brothers take the L class bobbins (like the 1500s straight stitch model), but not very many.

petthefabric

I think my choices for a traveling machine are:
Weight: less than 12 lbs
Good straight stitch; don't want embroidery and can do without zigzag
Mechanical; no computer to mess with and RV electricity
Handle for carrying
Feet interchanble with my other machines.
Reliable; had a small Brother for ~8 years and it started getting "loose, sloppy"
Easy to opperate: the owners manual was necessary for moving the needle and changing stitch length/width
Local repair/servicing shop
Under $1000

My favorite machine is the Brother 1500SL. Too heavy for travel. It stays plugged in and ready to just Go!
Thread cutter and knee lift very nice
Can do FMQ & zig zag and embroidery on home machines

Have a heavier machine that travels and can do zigzag and FMQ; has thread cutter and knee lift. It weights too much and too large to fit into small carry case to be a favorite travel machine.