Gammill or APQS?

[SYork]

I was ready to purchase a Gammil even though I had never touched a longarm. I drove 90 miles to a shop that had 3 machines (one with Statler). I was going to go all out and purchase with the Statler at the beginning so that I would not have to add it later if I decided that was the way that I was going to go. Got to the shop, 2 ladies working in the store, and neither would turn the machine on. All three were loaded with practice material ready to go. I asked if I could try them and was told that I needed to sign up for a 3 hour class and try them in class. WHAT! Did they not realize that for around $30,000 I wanted to try the machine NOW. Needless to say, I walked out and never considered the Gammil again. I thought if they worked there and were afraid to turn on the machines, I did not need one. I later went to a Road Show and tried one, put a down payment on a milli, and then wondered what in the world am I doing. I agree that it is a lot of money for a hobby (for me because I don't have a business). A few months later I added IQ and I am happy. I can run any thread I want (cheap to expensive) with no problems, have never had to time mine (hope I never have to) and love it. Get the fabric advance because as others have said, it is a real plus.

[AnnHenry]

Gammill & APQS are both top of the line machines. The best advice I ever got was to buy whichever machine has the closest repair service! So I did!

[JustSewSimple]

Take a look at the post on this forum "Is my stitch regulator going bad?" Notice the last post is by Mark. He tells her how to fix her problem. This is only one of the reasons APQS is so outstanding!!!!

[stitchinsally]

Back when I bought my machine, 5 yrs ago, both Gamill and APQS offered the beginners classes and then applied the charge towards the machine if you bought it. Though going to roadshows is a good place to start, I wish I had taken the beginner classes first and then it would have given me more time on the machines to really discover if it is something I wanted to invest in. I like my APQS and leaned towards it because it fit me best. But, one of the leading factors was because there was a dealer only an hour away and I thought that would be wonderful if I ever needed assistance. Didn't quite work out that way as this dealer was not very helpful - got the machine sold and got their commission and have not heard from them since. However, there are some very helpful and encouraging dealers out there so, look for one of them.

[Ananuk]

Hello everyone, I am at a loss and hoping to find help here.  My mom just turned 80 and is a quilting fool, she has an a1 longarm quilter, run by Statler stitcher software version 2.0, her computer died and now the software is corrupt, she wasn't given replacement discs so she has no working quilter now, if anyone can help with this we would be sooooo appreciative,  gammil and Statler refuse to help because of the software age. Tyvm, Jeremy 

[PamelaG]

I agree, try both first. I narrowed my choices down that way, and finally decided against Gammilll as the head was too heavy for me to manipulate easily. I was between Innova and APQS then. APQS won me over for the ease of use, the ease of moving the head, and the warrantee. 

[jimerickson]

Ananuk:  This is a long shot, but might help.  Contact Kasa Engineering, the makers on Intelliquilt.  They have assisted with Compuquilter, support after they went out of business, maybe they can help with outdated Statler software.  Jim