My moms sewing machine was a basic machine (Nelco name brand) with a straight stitch, some zigzags and a few(5) decorative stitches. My dad had bought it for her at a truck load sale from a hotel, he had no clue if it was a good one or not but I guess he was getting a good deal. Turns out it was and still is a really good, sturdy, basic sewing machine, it's made of all metal parts and never failed to do the job I needed it to do. It's still in great working condition but I thought since I use a sewing machine almost every single day it might be time for an upgrade!
I then found the Pfaff Performance 5.0 in my online research, it seemed to have everything on my list plus more! Pfaff only sells their machines through Pfaff dealers and the dealer closest to me was just a small small shop and didn't have the performance 5.0 for me to try out, but she told me if I would like to buy it she could order it in for me and get me a good price. I was bummed she didn't have it or know much about it, I went home to do some more research. The next closest Pfaff dealer was two hours away, I got in contact with them and they did not have the machine at their store either, but one of the employees had it and would bring it in for me to see and test out, but I'd have to wait a month to arrange that. In the mean time I researched everything I could about the performance 5.0 and was falling in love with it. I then stumbled upon an hour long video of a Pfaff dealer going over the machine and showing all its features (http://youtu.be/V8wlJAcMhiw). After watching that video 3 times I was sold! I knew I had found the sewing machine I was going to buy, I didn't even need to test it out anymore. I ordered it from my local Pfaff dealer as soon as I could, then had to wait the longest week and a half ever for it to arrive. While I was waiting I found the manual for it online and had read the entire thing so that when my machine got here I could play with it right away!
9 Months later I have no regrets on purchasing the Pfaff performance 5.0. It does everything I need it to plus more and has not failed me yet. Here's hoping it will last 25 years or longer just like my mom's machine. To see my full review on the Pfaff performance 5.0 click here.