I just got the F600 Exceed. This machine has so much that I love. The #2 P stitch is a perfect quilters stitch. You can take a few stitches before you hit your fabric strips and your fabric is not pounded down the hole and knotted up - it just sews right on. I am trying all sorts of things to make it do it and it just doesn't.
I had a 1630 and didn't particularly like it, so it's hard for me to critique that part. I've never much cared for Bernina straight stitches. All many stitch machines have a little wonkyness to the straight stitch , they are never really straight - just some are less wonky than others. Now, here I am being super critical. You really have to study it to see some of the differences.
The Exceed has a super strong sound to the motor, it is geared to slow down, speed up, slow, slow, and it takes right back up. It is very responsive. The design stitches I tried are very tight & nice. The thread cutter in the pedal will take some getting used to, but it can be disengaged. I am starting to get a feel for it.
FYI
I was making 4 patches to test my 1/4" on this machine. I was disappointed in a few blocks, but when I measured each piece of fabric I realized it was my cutting not the machine. My good strips made perfect 4 patches.
More as I sew more.

Well, I test drove the F600 for several hours today - the top of the
line one mentioned by Clive a few days ago.

It does sew like a dream. It is very user friendly and the manual is
excellent thus far.

When I got to the alphabets and numbers I ran into a snag. The
letters were not sewing properly. Back to the manual. Well!!!! I
discovered a wonderful function I had never heard of before - do a
test stitch and if it doesn't print as it should there is a knob to
adjust one way or the other depending on the direction of the uneven
stitching. Voila. The letters and numbers sewed perfectly. And
this same function works for the other decorative stitches with the
recommendation to always do a test on the same fabric, etc. before
sewing the real thing. What a bonus.

Buttonholes - I have *never* seen buttonholes like these. I'll have
to figure out how to make a quilt with buttonholes - they are so perfect!

I tried out most of the feet and have ordered several more, also a
single hole throat plate.

I have the machine at home now and will be working my way through the manual.

Sure hope "knovins" gets the tension fixed alright. It seems silly
to ask but have you checked the trouble shooting stuff at the back of
the manual?

Another New Zealander.... I have the Juki Exceed (not a quilter - yet.....) and I really like this machine so far.... for instance yesterday I was doing buttonholes on microfleece (a charity item for our local neo-natal ward) and the machine handled them beautifully.... the buttonhole foot has a metal plate which sits underneath (attached) and it sandwiches the fabric between the plate and the foot.... means there is no slippage.... buttonholes on fleece have been a nightmare in the past....

I am a member of a charity group here in Cambridge - we make packs (smocked gowns, wraps, beanies and bootees) for hospitals all over the North Island - for babies who do not survive.... we donate them free of cost to the hospitals etc.

I am the proud owner of the F600. My previous machine was a Bernina 1630. I wouldn't have believed that the F600 would really beat the stitch quality of a Bernina, but it does. I am still amazed everytime I sew with a different fabric or thread, no matter what the thickness, it sews like a dream. I even sew my quilt bindings on without a walking foot and not a ripple! I have the 98E also and love to free motion quilt and piece on it. It has the faster speed for piecing, but the F600 stitch is superior to any machine I have ever owned including the Bernina, Viking Designer 1, Brother Ultimate 2003. Just another opinion!