opinions on best commerical 1 head

Barudan . Yes, it cost more but after 23 years in business I have had very little problems with my Barudans. They are work horses. Great support from Barudan.

Barudan 1st choice
Tajima 2nd choice

Barudan is a bit overpriced.
1 Tajima
2 SWF

Stay away from Melco.

Everyone will have their opinions on the best equipment. Most people create an opinion based just on what they have seen and experienced with a certain brand not on what the brand does as a whole. There are several things that should be taken into consideration whend talking about who is the best.

1. What is the quality of the machine.
2. How does the machine hold it's value.
3. Does the machine have a good support system. (technicians, parts, etc.)

We have been in the business since the early 80's and this opinion is based upon years of seeing each and every brand of machines from Tajima all the way down to Prodigi. Of course this is just an opinion but it is a very educated opinion.

Tajima and Barudan are neck and neck for number 1. This is only since Barudan has gone with the flat head machine and have become a hat machine instead of just a flat goods machine. So the older models I would give the edge to Tajima but they are a lot closer these days.

Brother, SWF, and Happy, are the only other three brands that I would recommend to people. Brother makes a good single head but there multi heads are not that great. SWF has come a long way since they started and seem to have a good product with a good service to back them. Resell value on these are still not very good though. Happy is another decent machine that has been around for awhile but has very bad resell value.

Stay away from all the machinese that are made in China. Most of them are junk and you will regret your decision. Most of the companies that sell these machines go out of business at some point then you are stuck with a machine with no service and no resell value. You may save some money up front on these machines but in the long run you will regret it. Maybe not everyone because I have seen some of these machines run good and do ok. But the majority are just not good quality. All of these are opinions but they are just that....Opinions.

Why doesn't anyone mention ZSK? I have heard that they are one of the best.
Is it the price that puts them out of the discussion?

A brother 1210 for $3,000 is a good buy. You shouldn't go wrong with that machine at that price.

Tajima