[QUOTE=DogHouseMom;6319749]Here's a different idea .... check sales listings for used long arms and used embroidery units!! Perhaps you can get both for the price of the Bernina and keep your old (but still good) Bernina. There are LOTS of good used long arms in the $4 - $6 thousand range, and a decent embroidery machine (even new) can be had for a few thousand.QUOTE) I agree with DogHouseMom. I think you should get a used longarm and a used embroidery machine instead. I would never buy a combo machine, because what do you do with it when one of the functions breaks down? I feel the same way about other combo units (turntable, tape player and cd player, for example, or scanner, fax and printer combo). I prefer to buy something which does only one thing and does it well. Then if it dies, I can just get rid of it, instead of hanging on to a huge unit which only does half what it should. If you have to choose between a longarm or an embroidery unit, buy the one you think you'd get the most use from, which is most likely the longarm. Then perhaps in the future you'd have a chance to buy an embroidery machine (maybe used if finances are tight). As for the comparison between FMQ and longarming, there is no comparison. Both are physical work, but longarming is so much easier.