I don't know anything about the embroidery machines but I have a Viking Sapphire 870 and absolutely love it. My local dealer is very involved and services everything he sells. I haven't needed any service yet but if I can't figure out how to use a feature on the machine I stop in his shop and he sits down with me and goes through the process with me then lets me practice until I feel can I do it easily.
He also told me about the merger and said he took a Viking apart after the manufacturing went to China and found that it was exactly the same.