John You are doing the right thing by asking questions. Take your time, do your research, compare the machines and in the end, choose the machine which is best for you from the dealer which provides the best after sales support and service. Regardless of which machines you are considering, having dealer / tech support near by is a big plus should you require someone to service your machine down the road. If you go to www.groups.yahoo.com and do a search for Tajima, Barudan, SWF, ZSK, Happy, Brother, Toyota or any other machine you may be interested in, you will also likely find groups dedicated to those machines which can help you with any questions you may have. Search the archives of each of the groups using key words like "complaint", "problem", "downtime", "junk", "unhappy", dissatisfied", "poor service" or any other words that you think will lead you to discussions about problems which some may have had with that particular brand. Good luck, take your time and find out as much as you can about each machine ..... the more you know the more likely you will find the machine which is best for you. Bob . John Bevins wrote: >Greetings Everyone, > >This is my first post to the list. I have been reading some of the >list archives on and off for a while now. I am looking at purchasing >my first embroidery machine. Most of my background is working in >computers. I have (I think) narrowed the selection down to the Amaya >XT, Tajima, and Barudan..... considering ZSK a little. For the Amaya >owners on the list I would like to know if and why you would purchase >an Amaya again? I especially would like to hear from those of you who >have or have had other machines in your shop such as Tajima or >Barudan... why did you move to the Amaya? what strengths and >weaknesses does it have compared to the other major vendors. > >Thank you guys and gals for your time, >John >Fresno Engraving > > > >=========================================================== > >The AmayaUsers Mailing List >Website: http://www.amayausers.com >Discussion Board: http://www.amayausers.com/boards >Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://www.amayausers.com/list > >=========================================================== > > > =========================================================== The AmayaUsers Mailing List Website: http://www.amayausers.com Discussion Board: http://www.amayausers.com/boards Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://www.amayausers.com/list ===========================================================