In my opinion, if a company is going to sell a certain item/s such as sewing machines, then they should all be properly trained in those machines. I was offered a position for the owner of the sewing machine shop where I bought my machines and he required you to know the machines he sold, and if a client bought a machine there, you got at least 5 lessons.

I wish things were like that here but we are not a large Metropolitan area and most salesman just "pass" through to the big cities. It took 3 months to get the salesman back here to show them what little he knew. The shop can't afford to send the sales staff to Janome for training.
The next dealer is about 50 miles west of me and she would show me ,I'm sure. But since I didn't buy it from her, she just might be a little hard to deal with. I had put this machine on Lay-away and I noticed a sale ad at her shop, but she was a few hundred dollars higher.

I got mine last year and just love it!!! Quilting with it was amazing also. My dealer had me go back, at my convenience, for a class and they let me stay til they had answered all my questions. I went over my hour; but they didn't make me feel badly about it at all. They will answer any questions if I call them also.
You will find a few groups online....some Janome and some specific to the Horizon.
Enjoy!!!

I love my machine, but like you, I don't use the start/stop or knee lift. I like both hands on my work, and I can't get my leg/foot to do two things at once. I took some training, but I found out the best way to learn how to use a machine is to use it. I also use the feature "Ask Jan" on the Janome website.

Add Poland to that.

Yes, I have a Horizon. I got it last November. There are plenty of short tutorials on the web plus an instructional dvd. I've found that a lot of it is intuitive, and I've never had an electronic machine before.

And yes, join the Yahoo group. Just make sure you get the Horizon 7700 one, and not the general one or the 6600 one if you want specific Horizon information and have questions.

It's a very helpful group.

Unless they are teaching you to quilt, etc. I am not sure why it would take 10 lessons. Many times we aren't really ready to learn a certain thing until we actually want to do it. I'd say learn to use it and then take up a challenge once a month. A few days ago I decided to try to learn the binding tool. It worked!

Congrats on your new machine. They are very nice and you should make friends quickly!

I have one model down, the 6600. The things auntmeg mentioned are on this model too, and I love them. I think what I like MOST, now that I sorta know how to use it, is the push button start/stop. I have a bad knee and ankle and this really helps. I have much less pain from quilting now. The thread cutter is a joy when I am quilting a large quilt, especially.

I'm a bit the same with the knee lift...couldn't work the pedal and the knee lift with the same leg...too much moving my leg to and fro and it got uncomfortable. So, I learnt to operate the pedal with my left foot which left my right knee free for the knee lift :) It actually wasn't that difficult either....lol
I don't like using the stop/start button...rather have complete control with my foot..but that's just me...lol

I cannot offer any advice or tips but wanted to say that I have heard a lot of wonderful things about the Horizon. Congratulations and I wish you & her many beautiful quilts together.