I just bought (delivered yesterday!) the Brother 1500 and I love it! I've been sewing all afternoon working on a rag quilt and I'm in heaven! Although I've been sewing for a zillion years ( I'm 60 so it really does feel that long) this is the first quilt I've ever worked on and I can just feel the difference in my new Brother 1500 and any other machine I've ever used. It's a denim and flannel quilt so I'm going thru some layers!
I can not tell you about the Viking but I can say that right now with the Brother 1500 I am in heaven!!!!!