Libby, just curious as to what IS your native language?

I agree with everything you have said. It is, for most of us, discretionary spending, and for much of the USA market at this time, there is less of that available.

It will be interesting to see how it all plays out. Meanwhile, I will sit on the sidelines and quilt my little heart out. And hope and pray enough people have the ability to buy it so that TQS continues to have the $$$ support it needs!

I in no way want this to be a criticism of Bernina because I have always believed they produce a Cadillac product - I just can't always afford Cadillacs!
Lynn

I believe you are right about making choices when it comes to spending. I believe that Bernina was targeting the American market because some people just have to have the latest and greatest, the USA economy was better at the time of development, the USA is about 50% of their market, and interest in crafting of all kinds was growing.

Their timing may be off now that the Series 8 is available. By fall, the hold on our discretionary cash may be tighter. Food, shelter, transportation, health care are more necessary than a bigger sewing machine unless it is a tool for one to make his/her living.

My complaint is that after deciding to spend $$$ for a new machine, I wasn't told about the coming availablilty of the Series 8 when I visited a large Bernina store in California this March to discuss, in my native language, the pros and cons of the various models. Would I have spent even more $ (or CHFs here) for the Series 8? I don't know. My annoyances with the 630E are minor and overcome by attachments or alterations in my sewing space. The only issue is the physical size but I don't do bed sized quilts very often.

$10,000-12,000 is a big investment. Does anyone know if Bernina will have scaled down versions of the Series 8?

I'm with you! Maybe it dates us, but I don't need anything THAT expensive to do what I do!

I have a Bernina 830 and a Janome 6600 and i can assure you, when I paid ( I think) $900 for my 830 in 1972 I thought it was out of sight but my DH had looked them all over and endorsed it!

Then 2 years ago I paid $1099 for my Janome 6600 and thought that was actually quite reasonable and it does all I want it to..... I can't imagine having enough MORE WANTS to justify $12,000!

But I also CHOOSE to live in a quite small house, and CHOOSE to drive an 8 year old car, and CHOOSE to not heat my house in the winter,..... so we all have our life styles we choose for many different reasons. Course, it doesn't hurt that I live in Houston where it rarely freezes! I'm sure in Wisconsin or New York I'd choose not to have a/c and keep the heat! LOL

Sit down, deep breath and don't be surprised at the price tag............ready, $12,000........how can someone justify that when people are losing their homes and are living from meal to meal ? What do you think?

I was asking my dealer this question last weekend and she assured me that Bernina would take care of any problem that was found after the launch. She also told me that Bernina has been developing and testing this new machine for 3 years, so they had worked through many issues. I felt reassured after talking to her - I love my current Bernina and have only had good dealings with the product and the dealer, so I felt like I could trust what I was hearing.

I am really interested to get the details on the new machine, as well as hear the price tag.

Mary Kay

mknavy90 wrote:
Does anyone know the answer to Mary Kay's question? I've never bought a new machine before (all my machines are 1968 and older, going back to 1886). I'm really interested in this one, but wonder whether it will take a while to work the bugs out. What's been the experience of those of you who have bought new Berninas just after they've been introduced?

Anne in Vancouver, Canada

I want it too, but with 2 kids in college..... I"m just not sure. Plus I want to see it in person first and see how it sews. I don't need all the bells and whistles. I'm thinking about getting the 820, which has less bells and whistles but the same wide bed.
Here is another issue..... I have a feeling our old cabinets wont work with this machine.
Roni

It's more than my first year's teaching salary in 1971,too. It's more than three times the price of my first new car (volkswagen beetle). Maybe if I'm really,really,really good...okay, take off one really because being too good is an unrealistic expectation for me ....Santa might lug one down the chimney for me.
Hey, you can always dream. BTW, anyone see a Santa anywhere around?

My first year's total teaching salary was $2000 back in 1957. Can you imagine waiting to earn enough money to buy that new Bernina? Do they expect the average quilter to come up with that kind of money? Do you know how many gallons of gas that would buy? Judy in AZ

Just got in from my dealer's and he said the lowest allowable price wil be $9995.95............that's 5x the price of my first car and more than my parents first house.........My dealer says he can't understand why someone would pay that much for a domestic sewing machine..........if you want to embroider buy a Brother 620...don't know........I love my 630, Brother Duetta and Bernina 730 and on a fixed income don't know if I really want the new one....we'll see[/b]

Here's an article that states it will be over $10K:
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1208&u_sid=10383905

phreckles wrote:
I think we're supposed to also use this as a family car. That way we can justify the cost!

RoniG8 wrote:
Roni - Thank goodness I looked at the link you put on the Forum this morning, as I SAW the pictures and got even more excited!!! Tonight when I went back to look, the pictures had been taken down and a note left saying that Bernina wants the blogger to wait until Monday. I am really looking forward to getting the full scoop on Monday! Mary Kay

phreckles wrote:
Wow... that is a heap of money for what is still considered a home embroidery / sewing machine. Or are they considering this a commercial, single needle combo machine?