This is exactly what I did. I absolutely love my Horizon and have had no buyers remorse. The deciding factors came down to the throat space and the cost of purchasing extra attachments.

I have the Bernina QE, its a 1999, I bought it used a few years ago. It has great stitching.
I use a walking foot to quilt charity quilts and haven't had any problems.
My vote goes for the Bernina, a machine that has been around for a long time.
bernina is the only machines Ive had, so no comment on the other machines.

My DH just bought me the Horizon on Sunday and I LOVE it. I've been playing with it and all it does after some helpful hints posted here. Nice stitching and finally, no birds nests on the back and it's sewing with all types of thread.

Its probably good you have narrowed down your favorites, and as most folks have stated, you really need to go and try each one out first. You should also have a list of the things that are most important to you in your new machine. I cannot stress enough about taking your own fabric with you, and testing it out on what you will be using it for. Each of us will give you different opinions, which unfortunately will only lead to more confusion. Ask me how I know. :) Dealers are as important as the machine you purchase. They are the ones that will help you learn to use your new machine. They are the ones your going to call when it messes up on you, due to operator error. So you want someone that is easy to get along with, and treats you right.

Someone mentioned that Brother is coming out with a new machine also, here is a link to that for you:

http://www.brother-usa.com/Homesewin...-Machines.aspx

Just to confuse you more :eek:

Good luck in your search, and once you bring your new baby home be sure to post a picture of her.

I just bought a Bernina--had a Viking for many years before. The people at my LQS said "Your first Bernina will be the last machine you buy". Boy, do I love it!

Bernina is nice by all accounts, but they cost so much! DH told me to get any machine I wanted but he paled when he saw the price on the Bernina! I asked the repairman what has the best record and he told me Janome and I got the 6600. I do everything on it. We live 45 minutes away from the shop and the repairman taught DH and me how to clean it and gave us some pointers. If I have problems I call him and he walks me through different things to check. 3 out of 4 times the problem gets fixed without my going to the shop. Love that man! I quilt all my own quilts on it. Once DH had to help me because it was an 8'x8' quilt and I had appliques that were 2" thick on it! I jerked my head left and he moved the quilt in that direction, right.... etc. It was a hoot. We are a team! The Janome is a smooth sailing work horse!

I have a bernina 430 with BSR and a pfaff qe 4.0. The bernina sits in my closet while the pfaff is in my sewing cabinet. It is newer, and I don't have space for both of them to be up. The things I really like about the pfaff are the larger throat space, thread cutter and the idt. I have had my frustrations with it but I think I am getting them worked out. It does seem to be picky on thread and tension, but you have to play with it. I don't believe I ever had to play with the tension too much on my bernina. But, the extra throat space is something that would be number one with me.

I have a Janome 6600 also and I feel the big difference in price for the horizon is not worth it either. the only thing that is worth justifying upgrading is the bigger throat. that is not worth $1000 to me

Don't know about the others, but I love Bernina's and don't think anything sews that good. Buy the best you can afford.

Just bought the horizon had it two days and love it already