Hersisterquilts.............I did look at the Babylock Destiny first. It had everything, and more! It was amazing. And, you are right, the Destiny and the Brother Dream machine are almost identical. As many of you have stated, the availability of good service and the availability of help whenever you need it, are as important as the features on each machine. The reason I bought the Dream machine, over the Destiny, was the price difference. Beginning price of each was pretty much the same. The Destiny is now 10% off. But, my Brother Dream Machine beat that price.......by $3,000!!!! More volume, better price! And, I really connected with the lady who would be helping me learn all about my machine. That is an important feature, too!

I still do not have my new machine, but today is day 10 on the "It could be around 10 days!" wait. I'm not holding my breath, because I know the chaos the west coast dock strike has caused! Meanwhile, I am cleaning up and organizing my sewing room.

One thing I am looking forward to trying is the tiny increments of movement for the needle position that a couple of you have mentioned. I do some very precise, slow quilting, sometimes a stitch at a time, and think this is a great feature.

Also, I think it is wonderful to have so many options to raise and lower the feed dogs! On a bad sciatic day, I can forgo the knee lift, and use either the foot pedal control, or the button right on the front of the machine. Very cool!

Dawn
In beautiful Northwest Montana

I prefer to keep machines for a very long time but seems recently I have been in a purchased, traded, sold cycle for various reasons. have a few vintage Singers, Pfaff 7570, Bernina 900 Nova, Janome 11KSE, Babylock Jane, and former owner of Viking 1+, Janome 9700, Horizon 7700 QCP, Bernina 830E and 780E. I prefer the Pfaff IDT over the Bernina Dual Feed. My must have features are the ability to move the needle by increments, needle threading mechanisim-not necessarily an auto threader, needle down feature, ability to use the machine without the foot pedal, and an auto thread cutter. I find that the European style of machines seem to have the needle movement function more fine tuned vs the Japanese manufactured machines. Most of the multi-function (zig-zag) machines allow needle movement, however, some have the movement pre-set. Having the ability to move the needle in small increments is especially important when doing machine applique. I purchased the Janome Horizon 7700 for it's many features but when doing machine applique, such as a blanket stitch, the stitch settings were preset to where I couldn't decrease the width of the stitch beyond 2.0. I checked with my dealer, who said the settings could not be adjusted so I sold the machine. It was a good machine. I enjoyed using it's many other functions but moving the needle by increments was a test that I didn't perform thoroughly during the store demo; realized it months later when it was time to work on a machine applique project. I rely on my old Pfaff for machine applique and when that machine finally gives out, I'll buy another Pfaff. I gave my Viking 1+ to my daughter in law; it also has beautiful machine applique/embroidery stitches and a few other nice features but I was unhappy with the piecing long straight seams and the ability of the feed dogs to grab the fabric smoothly. Janome's have excellent feed dog systems; great for piecing, as does my Bernina 900 Nova, my vintage machines and my BL Jane. If only there was a way to capture "all" of the favorite features in one machine.

Well, there are a few... I love the Needle Down, the 1/4" quilting foot, and the needle threader. Being able to drop the feed dogs is nice, but not necessarily a must-have for me.

I recently bought a new machine. A pfaff performance. It has needle up and down. Dual feed. And rather than a knee lift it has a feature when you stop sewing the presses foot automatically lifts. And when you begin sewing the presse foot automatically drops down . Perfect . Also has on off sewing button and sew speed which makes for easy paper piecing. I also highly recommend buying from a reputable dealer for the extra personal service. Mom.quilter

Congrats Dawn! You will not be disappointed. I have been researching features, trying to decide on which machine to buy and finally decided on a Babylock Destiny, which is the same as your new machine. I chose Babylock over Brother because of my availability of dealer service after the sale. In reference to your comment on the Bernina 830, I was one of the customers who received a less than perfect machine, twice. When it functioned properly, it was an amazing machine but when it was out of commission, it was a very expensive paperweight. Wishing you many happy hours of sewing on your new Dream Machine

my needle threader recently wasn't working correctly either (Viking Diamond) so I took it in and it turns out there are 2 screws on the back side of the threader. They just needed tightening and now it works perfectly. It does require a special screwdriver to tighten it so I need to find one of those.
Before this happened I could not thread 60 needles, but since this adjustment, I can!

I am very lucky. I have a Pfaff, Bernina and a new Babylock Unity. I love them all. Each one has it's
Good features. My new Unity is a dream. It almost works by itself. Wonderful threaded, and thread cutter
Which were not great on the others. The larger harp is so nice for quilting. The lighting on the new
Machines is great. I still like my Bernina 730, but with the unity I don't need that little starter cloth when
Piecing.
There is quite a difference in price of all machines. I would buy the one most popular in your area
That has good service. The new machines are wonderful. Testing them out does help to.

Sharon

All the high end machines have my favorite features. I suggest you go to a big quilt show and try all the various brands. Service is important also my dealer is 70miles away, but love, love, love the service I get.

Congratulations, Dawn. Have a wonderful time with your new machine.

Congrats with your new machine, Dawn. It seems to be the perfect choice for you.
I have had the 830 for nearly 2½ year now, bought second hand from a very good dealer (I later found out that it is one of the first machines they sent out). It had software related problems which took a long time to fix but it now works wonderful. I love that machine.

One thing I appreciate very much is the ability to move the decorative stitches to either side. My Pfaff and my Janome couldn't do that. It's very useful. And the needle increments are very small on this machine, which I also find very helpful.

Enjoy your new machine Dawn. It sounds wonderful.

I'm glad you found just the right machine for you. Have fun!

So glad Dawn....Hope all that research is a perfect pay-off ! Wish I had had the where-with-all
to do that before I bought my 820 ! Such a lemon ! Many fixes ,BJ...but company was less than
supportive and it makes very expensive "lemonade"! Wish I had bought almost anything but a Bernina.
BTW....my 1st Bernina was a terrific machine.

Congrats on the new sewing machine. It sounds like a dream come true!