Originally Posted by scowlkat
I would take a Janome over Bernina any day! Janomes are almost completely metal still (not the ones in Hancocks - the ones you buy through dealers - and yes, I have verified that they are different). I sew on a Bernina frequently at a friend's house and find it to be a real pain in the neck, it has a very poor quality satin stitch and hate the front loading bobbin. Besides the price of the machine and all the accessories is way out of line for what you get. Now Janome has fallen behind in keeping up with the current features for embroidery machines so I went with a Babylock Ellisimo when I upgraded this summer. I could have gone with the Bernina 830 monster but after playing with it at the shop and studying the manual, I felt it was too finicky for my tastes.
Now this is all my personal opinion and reasoning. I know that most of the dedicated Bernina people are going to disagree which is fine. The main thing is to give yourself an opportunity to study and use whatever machines you are interested in to make an informed decision and prevent regrets.
Off my soapbox now!
Thanks for the info One reason I have even considerd a Bernina is that I am planning on retiring and moving and the shop that will be closest to me sell Bernina's I was also hoping to teach a class or two at that shop and thought I might want to know how to operate a Bernina. I purchased a manual Jem Gold second hand from the shop here for $100.00 bought a few acessories so I had a machine lighter than my 30 lbs kenmore which I still love after 35 years but need to have one to talk to classes that does a little more that the Janome I bought. I have the chance to get another one at this shop for around $250 and I think I am going to get the asseroiries I already bought for my jamone will fit the newer one.