Hope you find what you want Lolli! I'm not that far away we could have had a meet up.
If I'd have had the time that would have been good!
Well I've come away without one
To be honest the whole visit was a nightmare. Set off in plenty of time to try a few out and get back in time to pick our DD up from school at 5:30pm as she's been doing her drama GCSE assessment. The weather conditions are horrendous, my DH couldn't see anything (he still can't now!) and there'd been two crashes on the motorway. We came to a standstill so we went onto A roads which was still rammed with traffic. Got there an hour later than planned so I had less time to try them out.
I tried two, the Bernina I was after plus the Juki MO-114D. I know the Bernina comes with a bin on the front but it didn't have one on, I asked if it would come with one and she said no. I went on to say it shows it on the website, she went and asked and said I was right. So we proceeded with experiments. I learnt a lot, how to change to rolled hem, how to thread it, tried my different fabrics etc. I liked them both but preferred the Bernina. DH came into the shop to remind me we were running out of time so was going to buy it but before I did I asked about the guarantee. They only offer 12 months and they weren't for budging on that. I said elsewhere offer at least 2 years but nope, not shifting so I came away without. I've got 5 years guarantee on my £190 sewing machine, I'm not paying £545 for an overlocker with only 12 months. Too risky for me.
So I'm a little gutted, will have to order online and go for the Bernina (even though it was a bit bouncy on the table when sewing at speed but I think it was the surface it was on).
I suppose at least I've tried a couple, I now know how they work and how easy projects will become plus they're not as scary as I thought.