I have the Bernina 180E and love it. Everyone seems to love their particular machine and there are some very good ones out there.
I liked hat I can link directly from my computer to my machine with a cord for placing designs on my machine. It still has the capability of having a card reader for when you purchase designs on cards. If you purchase other machines cards you will need a magic box to convert them.
Some machines only embroider and do not do regular stitching. Some people like this as they will keep a secondary machine for their regular stitching while the embroidery machine is doing its thing. On my Bernina I don't have to remove the embroidery attachment if I want to do regular sewing. I like that It can resize designs right on the machine and it will also automatically adjust the fill stitches. (I don't think any of the other machines will do that).
If you don't plan on doing a lot of embroidery and don't mind the 4" x
4" limit on stitching field, I'd recommend the Brother machine. (The Bernina Deco is made by Brother).
If you plan on doing a lot of embroidery, buy the best machine you can afford. It's better to grow into the machine, than to have to upgrade later. I got my 5 yr old used machine last year. That was the best bang for my buck.
Decide what you want to do with the machine and make a list. Find out all the features of the machines you are considering and again compare that list. The biggest thing for me, was to have a local dealer. That way I can have my machine serviced quickly by the dealer who is familiar with the machine and without a lot of travel or shipping expenses.
Good luck
5 foot 2