Helen Baczynski

It's hard to give advice about one machine or another because everyone has their own preferences. What I like, may not suit someone else. I'm just glad I'm not buying now because there are so many to choose from.
When I got my Gammill Premier back in 1997, there were no stitch regulators and no-one even had extended bases or small guides. I chose my Gammill for the size, the price, and the style of the table. That last one was very important at that time because I wanted to use Gammill's long guide for custom work and their table was the only one where I could rearrange the bars so I wasn't stitching down in a valley. I had never used a one of these machines and only seen one up close before I bought mine. I thought, how hard can it be, it's only a sewing machine on wheels. It was drop shipped because there was no dealer near by. My husband and a friend put it together and I started to sew. There were no classes and no videos by teachers at that time either. We all taught ourselves.
I have never had a problem I couldn't fix and have never once thought I needed to send it away for service. The first time I had to time it, I was nervous and watched a video for help several times before starting but now I can do it much more easily. (I know some people who have never needed to time their machines.) Yes, the screws are a bit awkward to get to and if bending is difficult for you or you have very poor eyesight, that's an important consideration. Like I said, though, it was a very basic machine so no electronics, display screens or computer parts to go wrong. It's a different story these days.
Since then I have added an after market stitch regulator and then the IntelliQuilter computer. The computer cost twice what the original machine cost! I am still happy with my smaller stitching space but that's because I work at the front doing mostly custom work.
You've been looking for several years, so you should know what you want your machine to do but if not, first make a list of all the must have capabilities of the machine and include on that list any size limitations you might have. Don't forget to consider the table and wheel system - those are both important features. If, for example, an hydraulic lift is really important that will immediately narrow your search. Don't worry about the computer yet, but just know that IntelliQuilter can go on whatever machine you get

It's hard to give advice about one machine or another because everyone has their own preferences. What I like, may not suit someone else. I'm just glad I'm not buying now because there are so many to choose from.
When I got my Gammill Premier back in 1997, there were no stitch regulators and no-one even had extended bases or small guides. I chose my Gammill for the size, the price, and the style of the table. That last one was very important at that time because I wanted to use Gammill's long guide for custom work and their table was the only one where I could rearrange the bars so I wasn't stitching down in a valley. I had never used a one of these machines and only seen one up close before I bought mine. I thought, how hard can it be, it's only a sewing machine on wheels. It was drop shipped because there was no dealer near by. My husband and a friend put it together and I started to sew. There were no classes and no videos by teachers at that time either. We all taught ourselves.
I have never had a problem I couldn't fix and have never once thought I needed to send it away for service. The first time I had to time it, I was nervous and watched a video for help several times before starting but now I can do it much more easily. (I know some people who have never needed to time their machines.) Yes, the screws are a bit awkward to get to and if bending is difficult for you or you have very poor eyesight, that's an important consideration. Like I said, though, it was a very basic machine so no electronics, display screens or computer parts to go wrong. It's a different story these days.
Since then I have added an after market stitch regulator and then the IntelliQuilter computer. The computer cost twice what the original machine cost! I am still happy with my smaller stitching space but that's because I work at the front doing mostly custom work.
You've been looking for several years, so you should know what you want your machine to do but if not, first make a list of all the must have capabilities of the machine and include on that list any size limitations you might have. Don't forget to consider the table and wheel system - those are both important features. If, for example, an hydraulic lift is really important that will immediately narrow your search. Don't worry about the computer yet, but just know that IntelliQuilter can go on whatever machine you get

Here's the link to the iQ web site with the information about CQ support.
http://www.intelliquilter.com/compuquilter-home.php