Well, I checked out some reviews. This Janome 6500p Review (link below), which had some pretty positive comments. Amazon reviews were also pretty good on the whole.

Still looking to hear from members here to see whether the online reviews are true.

Anybody got thoughts on this?

Here is a link that might be useful: Janome 6500P Review

My wife has a Janome Memory Craft 9000 and until recently it was utterly reliable and at the time, top of the line. It is dead. The feed stepper motor runs in reverse mode only and cannot be repaired as a replacement motor is no longer available. I was also informed that a control board might be the next to go if I could find a motor. So a new machine is in order.

Looked at the Janome, Brother and the Babylock, and my wife has decided on the Brother after much hand wringing.

Brother machines are always a good bet.
Pfaff are also good.

Did you get any further with actually buying the Janome?

Here is a link that might be useful: Brother SE400