I have a Janome 1100SE upgrade with the Accu fill. It have not trod hat part out yet. It embroidery s beautifully. And it fits in a a Tuttuo bag should I ever need/want t take it smewhere. All my quilting friends are purchasing the Janome 500E. It's base is huge and they ar having a difficult time finding bags to tramsporrt it in. It's too big with the arm on for a Tutto bag. They all love it. I'd like to have it simply b/c it's a lighter machine, and has one bigger hoop than mine doesn't. It mi e actually has more built in designs /. Fonts than the 500e. Mine is a combo machine. However I only use it for embroidering. my workhorse is a Janme 6600. I LOVE this machine for a eye day piecing.