Originally Posted by Sewnoma

BellaBoo, that is more or less what I was just told, too.

He said I can get $1200 trade in on my 6600, and they would pay the sales tax and throw in the cone stand and an Accufeed SITD foot for the 8900, so the price came out to about $3800 out the door...BUT he didn't actually want the 6600, so he would take it as trade-in to satisfy the rules that Janome gives him, give me the $1200 credit, and then "sell" the 6600 back to me for $40 so I could either keep it as back-up or sell it somewhere else on my own. So in essence, $3840 for the new machine plus I keep the 6600.

I thought that was a pretty good deal, but, after playing with the 8900 for a little bit, I'm not sure it's worth it to me. It's a lovely machine, purrs like a kitten and has some nice upgrades that I want to have, but maybe not enough improvement over the 6600 to warrant almost $4k out of my pocket. I'm going to have to think about it. Right now I think I'm leaning towards keeping my 6600 and waiting a few more years until I've truly outgrown it...but I also REALLY like some of the 8900's features...but then again, $4k would buy a LOT of fabric!! LOL

One little detail I don't like about the 8900 is that you can't adjust the bobbin winder; I have my 6600 adjusted so I can wind the bobbin REALLY full, the 8900 doesn't have any way to adjust that. Minor, but I love my super full bobbins and I think I'd miss that little detail. I don't like that the top lid has to stay open to use the cone holder. Again, minor, but something I didn't like - it seemed awkward. Also it appears that you have to at least partially unthread the machine to wind a bobbin, which is a bummer. Everything else I pretty much love about that machine. We tested it and it's even smart enough to know which stitch plate is in place - if you put the straight-stitch plate on and then try to sew a zigzag stitch, it beeps at you, shows a little diagram on the screen to tell you what's wrong, and won't move the needle. Very clever! And the 9mm stitch width made the decorative stitching really look great. They added some cute stitches too; my favorites are a thread spool and a little threaded needle that fit together nicely in a chain. I actually do use decorative stitches so the larger size and more stitches is a plus.

I wish I had the space to keep the 6600 AND get the 8900 set up in my sewing room....if I had the space that would be AWESOME and would make the deal REALLY tempting. Talk about best of both worlds! But I just don't have the room to have more than one machine set up at a time. I need to buy a bigger house! LOL