THANK YOU ALL for all your great input!!! I'm still at a crossroads............but I do think I'm going to check to see what the Janome dealer would do for me should I buy now and decide I want the new one in April. I have to admit, though, that I figure whatever is coming out is likely to be much more than I'm comfortable spending so I may as well have something new to play with right now :) I will say, it's refreshing to hear so many compliments about not only ONE but TWO companies! How awesome!