Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

After reading more sewing machine reviews than could possibly be healthy, I ended up following the recommendation made by The Sweet Home as the Intermediate Sewing Machine pick and buying the Janome DC5100. I was upgrading from an entry level Brother CS6000i. The result? I ended up returning the DC5100 and keeping a Singer 9960 I also bought with a three year extended warranty for less than half of what the DC5100 cost me. Personally, I wanted the sewing machine for modifications and projects. I don't sew every week, but when I do sew, it often includes thick materials like multiple layers of straps and webbing, or the type of durable fabrics you find in motorcycle gear. In other words, I needed something heavy duty. But since I'm young and like technology, I'm attracted to computerized machines with hundreds of stitches, a nice LCD interface, cool features and good aesthetics. Also, I'm a man, so a pink sewing machine kinda puts me off. When I received the Janome DC5100, I have to admit I wasn't impressed. It just looks old and overpriced. The incandescent bulb makes it look antiquated (although it's replaceable with LED's, albeit with mixed results), the LCD screen looks like it was pulled off of a Casio calculator, and it isn't really that user friendly. It's simple to use, but it just doesn't feel like it's user friendly. In some ways I found myself missing my CS-6000i which costs about 20% of what the Janome costs. Build quality was superb of course, as the interior is pretty much all metal. Since I wasn't that satisfied, I kept looking and a kept arriving at the Brother 9960 again and again. It had all the cooler features of the CS-6000i (plus a thread cutter, which I have to admit I like), as well as being very heavy weight (read stable), having a larger bed, an extension bed, including a plethora of presser feet and much, much more. Warranty remarks were spotty, but considering it's 4.5/5 Star reviews out of around 1800 reviews, obviously not many people were sending their machine to warranty service. I decided to order it and test it side by side. I'll keep it short. Both the Janome DC5100 and the Brother 9960 (which also has a metal interior wherever needed, and is heavier) are capable of sewing through 7 layers of nylon webbing, and neither are sewing through any more layers than that. That's pretty much as much will fit under the presser foot. 7 layers is certainly past the limit, and way more than I expected. The stitches won't be pretty, but it will work if needed. It might get stuck, need some help or you might have to redo small portions, but the alternative is spending 1000$ on a SailRite which is much, much more utilitarian than either. And ideally I'd like to stick with only one sewing machine if possible. So given that the Janome DC5100 isn't really any more capable than the Brother 9960, and the Brother costs less than half, I don't really see the point in spending double the money. Plus, obviously neither is an industrial machine, so if I have to push a machine to the limit knowing I might break it, I'd much rather break a 280$ machine than a 650$ machine. And the 3 year extended warranty cost me 27$, so with that at least I know warranty will be easy. Other benefits of the 9960 is easier threading, thread cutter, better LED lights, a much nicer interface, a much nicer LCD screen, a better cover, an extended tray, a more neutral aesthetic design, a more modern design, more accessories, more online tutorials & YouTube support, and many other aspects. It's also nice that you can store it with thread inside and it still closes, which is great for quick fixes. Honestly, the only thing I can say in favor of the DC5100 is that it feels more robust in the sense that the components are all metal in the inside, but if that doesn't translate into more strength, I'm not sure what the benefit is. So end result, I returned the DC5100, and kept the Singer 9960 knowing both are equally as strong, and saving about 300$ in the process. I can know say with confidence that the 9960 is capable of sewing heavy duty materials, or at least as competent as you'll find under 700$ in the computerized sewing machine category.