I have a Janome 300E that I've had since 2004 and I love it. You can use many different size hoops on it (the giga hoop is very large) and it will do embroidery on all kinds of things. I have three granddaughters so I have made many things for them. Personally, I wanted a stand-alone embroidery machine (rather than a sewing/embroidery) and I have never been sorry for that decision. Try it...you might like it.