Years ago when I was sewing all the time for my daughter, Lindsey, I lusted for a Bernina sewing machine, but as a young mother with small children, and living from paycheck to paycheck, I could not afford one. I got along fine, though, with my Singer Creative Touch 1030.I never was able to afford the Bernina when my children were young, but I did purchase my first Bernina, a 1008, around 2002, That model is an entry level mechanical machine.This model doesn”t have a lot of fancy bells and whistles, but it does have that solid swiss built quality that Bernina is known for. One of the things I really wanted on a machine was the free hand system, and this model did not have it, so my next purchase was the Bernina 1260.Both of these Bernina machines were purchaed used on Ebay. I love the 1260, it is a great machine. I also purchased a Bernina Deco 340 Embroidery machine. This is an entry level embroidery only machine. Since I had a good sewing machine, I wanted embroidery only, and this fit the bill fine. At that time, things were just fine, I felt like I had wonderful machines for both sewing and embroidery. Then, my husband, Theo, decided he wanted to purchase a new Harley Davidson motorcycle. Well, tit for tat, if he gets a motorcycle, I can get something, but what? Initially I pondered a commercial embroidery machine that can embroider multiple colors at once. The pictures of this machine are deceiving. When I initially looked up this machine, it looked to me like it was about the size of a serger. Well, it is not. It is a huge machine, so I didn”t want to purchase something that big.That left only one option, in my mind. I would get a new Bernina sewing/embroidery machine. And the one I coveted, the 830 LE, was now within my means.And… it is now mine!It fits into my sewing room very nicely. And it really is an amazing machine. I will be attending the VIP retreat in Chicago in December to learn about the many things that this machine is capable of. Happy Sewing!!!