I love my MC7700, I sew my wardrobe as well as quilt and embroider.  For embroidery I use my Brother PE700II, which I don't care much for.  One of my biggest issues with the Brother is that you have to use ONLY the 90WT thread in the bobbin.  Try to use something else to match the thread on the embroidery and you are in for a nasty birds nest.  Any restrictions on the bobbin thread wt on the MC1500 or the  MC1200? TIA
Sarah

Jim says: No. Elaborating, he points out that the standard bobbin case (red dot) is calibrated to Janome bobbin thread. If you use something else and you get bobbin showing on top use the yellow dot case included with both machines.