I have the Janome 300E and I love it. I use mine quite a lot, and have embroidered on just about everything. My mum uses it alot too, and its very easy to use, and mid range on the price scale. Im not sur eif they make them anymore though, as mine was a runout model, but I know you can get the brand new on Ebay in the US.
The next one up is the 350E, and that is essientially the same, but has a USB slot for your designs so you can transfer designs onto your machine with out the use of the PCMIA( I think thats what its called) adaptor.