BARES

If you were my niece and I gave you an inheritance altho I hadn't seen you for years, I would want you to purchase something special that would always remind you of me. You say she sewed and gave to charities, she obviously hoped you would use this special gift to give happiness to those you love (family and your self). You could honor her by making a special lap quilt for someone in a wheelchair or a child in a hospital. She clearly MEANT you to use it for something special that would give you joy. She clearly loved you.

drgranny

I lucked on to a used bernina 930 that had only sewn 1 garment. The lady decided she liked her 830 better . I paid her $950. I love it and wouldn't do with out it, however, I do have a couple of lesser backups.

judi wess

Oh, if you don't buy what you REALLY want, you will regret it for the rest of your stitching life. My goodness, a 12inch space would be dreamy. I have said this before, as my Mom used to say; you will never regret buying quality.

Dkm

That is a great price. Here in Ky they are 11,000.

so-sew

Are you sure you aren't quoting the price for the 830? That's close to the price of approx. $10,000+ for the 830 in the same shop. Those 830s are SOOOO much more expensive. I think the 820 is all I'll need to keep me occupied with and excited about quilting.

borntoquilt

As my DH says "Buy the BEST you can afford at the time"! I say GO FOR IT! You'll be kicking yourself for NOT buying it when you have the chance. Keep the 6600 as a backup if you can afford to! Your Aunt will be watching you enjoy her GIFT to you! Happy Quilting!

mltquilt

I love my Bernina machines and would jump at the chance to get and 830 which is the top dog. Go to the Bernina dealer and spend some time checking out the machine. Most dealers are glad to let you sit and sew own the demo machine in their stores. They are also running some deals at this time of the year. Good luck.

mlt

JADE D

As far as I know, the main difference between the 820 and 830 is that the 830 has the embroidery module. If you don't embroider, not much point in paying 3-4 thousand dollars more. True, the 830 has umpty dozen more decorative stitches but how many will you actually use?

Candace

There are a few people on the yahoo 830 listing that have pushed to buy the 830 without the embroidery module. They were located in other countries though. And they were able to buy it without! Now, I don't think dealers are allowed to do this in the U.S. but you could always ask? That way, you MAY be able to buy an 830 for close to the same price and get the embroidery unit later if need be. Again, I don't know if anyone in the US has been successful with finding a dealer who will do this, but it doesn't hurt to ask. And it begs the question of why some folks outside of the US can purchase the embroidery unit separately and we can't?

Rann

Get the Brother and keep both and ignore your kids when they complain about you having two sewing machines. (Mine would).