Janome Horizon Memory Craft 9850 vs Janome 3160QOV

Buy the 9850 if you want to embroider as well as sew. It has a 170 x 200 mm embroidery field, 175 built-in designs and USB design transfer, and it sews faster at up to 1,000 spm with a 9 mm stitch width. The 3160QOV is the better pure sewing machine for most people: lighter at about 12 lbs, simpler to learn on, and built around quilting with the SFS+ feed system and a quilter's foot kit. Owners of the 9850 praise the embroidery quality but call it heavy and complex; 3160QOV owners like the stable feed and portability, though some miss automatic tension adjustment.

• Choose the Janome Horizon Memory Craft 9850 if you want one machine that both embroiders and sews, and you are ready for a heavier, more complex machine.
• Choose the Janome 3160QOV if you mainly sew and quilt, want a light machine you can carry to classes, and prefer simple manual tension control.