Mousie

not to usurp, you wraez, but just suggest you at least try both the 6500 and the 6600.
I did, and went up the 300.00 more, bc of the accufeed etc. and figured it would be my last machine, since I already had another janome 6260. It's about what you want, and how much you want to spend. I looked at how many years I expected to use it and divided the extra money by that...um, 20-30 years? for an example...divided by 300 or whatever your dealer's difference is...can be as little as 7-15 dollars per year, but accufeed, for me, is a dream.
just want you to have the benefit of choosing. :D
if you are happy with 6500, who cares what I think is good for me? it's your money :wink:

montanaquilter

thank you so much for the great advice! i am taking notes about what everyone says so that i will make the right decision.

Jamie

we have a local shop in the area..it is a main carrier of babylock..which I personaly love...but the fantastic thing about this shop, is it's all trade in's and once used ( for trade shows and such) machine...so they are all a quarter of the price..many of them barely touched...plus they offer the classes and such...I realize this isn't realistic for you...but you can go online, and search the refurbished babylocks, and machines of that sort..and get a great nearly new machine..for often times really cheap! My machine I bought used, it is an older model, a babylock esante...it is a quilting, and embrodery machine... fully computerized I love her..I spent under $500 for her.

wraez

Hi Quiltncrazy....

I HAVE a Janome6500 and LOVE it... The difference in price between it and the 6600 was not worth it for me to go the extra $. I had to put it on layaway for 6 months cuz I could not buy it out of pocket. Hubby and I are retired and on a very fixed, fixed income, so being able to afford the 6500 at all was a dream but hubby said to go for it. If I actually only had to pay $7-15 a yr, than it would be a consideration, but that is not how you get to pay for things.

When I win that all evasive lottery, I will buy all my dream machines including a long arm, LOL.

sue

montanaquilter

Jamie
Does your local shop have a website that I could check out! That's an awesome price for a sewing machine of that brand name. Let me know. Thanks

Lee

Mousie

I completely understand where your coming from, wraez, we are on a fixed income too. We have an emergency fund, and hubby had to "dip" for a tree, before it fell on our house, so I figured, now was the right time to bring it up, for me...later down the line, it wouldn't be feasible.
It is a luxury, but I do a lot of sewig, I don't just quilt. Having either one of these, really is a dream. :D

Mousie

Jamie, sounds like you got quite a bargain, but did you buy online? I could have saved some money, or got a cabinet with mine, but afraid to buy something that I've only seen pics of and a list of features, otherwise, sounds fantastic!

JoanneS

You may save money buying on-line, but you don't have the service of a dealer if anything goes wrong. You may be sorry. I would be uncomfortable buying a used machine on-line without a recommendation from someone I knew who had bought from the SAME on-line place.

Jamie

I did not buy online...I went two seperate days, trying it out, and many more..compairing prices and such...but what the lady told me is a lot of the major dealers of machines all offer the refurbished..or barely used ones online, i spent a great deal of time doing searches, because I initialy bought one i wasn't happy with then had to return it a couple of days later ( bought the singer quilter, and it wasn't quite what I wanted, but it was inexpensive)...so if you have an idea of what your looking for it would be very easy to just get it online.

jojo47

Hi, montanaquilter!

I currently have a Pfaff Expressions 2030...have had it for about a year and a half and use it for both quilting and sewing. It has many of the features you are looking for. My older machine is a New Home (now Janome) Memory Craft 6000 and I would still be using it, but it's over 20 years old and the computer is giving out on it. I agree with all the other ladies in this great group...DO buy from a reputable dealer to get the service you need. The only reason I didn't go back to a Janome is because the dealer for them is over an hour away. My Pfaff dealer is 20 miles away and I work in that same town. Do I like my Pfaff? Yes!

Jojo