I have the 550QE and love it, I would strongly suggest you find out if your LQS is running any classes on the Bernina, our LQS has normally 2 or 3 Bernina Academy classes that run for 10 months. But at the end you have an amazing project to show everyone and you've used darn near every foot and stitch on the machine. Also sign up for the Bernina newsletters they often have special showcases on the different machines. There is how to videos on there for pretty much anything, including videos on how to thread your machine properly. If your not doing it right the machine will let you know pretty quickly lol. Also buy good quality thread as well it will break non-stop if your using crappy thread. Good luck! I've had my machine now 3 yrs.