I completely agree on the old model Singers. When I first started sewing I bought a new model Singer since it was the name I grew up with but it was terrible. My Gram's friend retired from the Singer company and told me that they had sold the company decades ago and the machines were no longer made with the same quality as before. The old model Singers sewed like a dream but the new models really weren't that great. I switched to Brother and after they disappointed, I went to Janome and using their machines is like using my Gram's old Singer. I haven't turned back yet and I now have 3 Janome sewing machines (2 for my daughters, lol), a Janome serger and a Janome embroidery machine.