I have upgraded twice in the past year. The first time I was going to take some classes and couldn't carry my 1960's Singer Clone. It is all metal and weighs a ton. I did not buy a new machine, I found a dealer I really like and talked with him and told him how much money I had to work with. He had a Pfaff that fit the bill. I bought it and used it and liked it. Then I heard about features like needle down, cruise control and self-threading. This meant another trip to my dealer. I told him what I wanted and how much money I had to work with. He took the Pfaff back in on trade and got me into a Janome with the three features I wanted. He also spent about an hour with me going over the features of the Janome. Usually when you purchase they have classes that you can attend. But due to distance he showed me what I needed right then and there.

Since then I have bought a Bernina embroidery machine from him and a couple of feet and things for the machines. I also bought a classic Singer Featherweight on E-bay.

I have a dealer that I can call and tell about a problem and he says bring it in and he usually repairs it while I wait. It is a 45 mile drive to his store.

I suggest you try to find a dealer who will work with you. At a dealer you can test drive the machines. See if it fits you or if the features work the way you are expecting. You also need to decide if you want to purchase new or new-to-you. I preferred to get a much nicer machine than I could afford if I had gone with a new one.