This summer I bought a very basic Brother at Wal-Mart for $89CND (since our dollar is at par with the US it's the same price)!!! I've had no problems with it at all, and was great at my parents cabin at the Lake.
The feed dogs do drop, and it came with all kinds of stuff, which was interchangeable with my Janmoe stuff I already have.
Some people may not agree with me but I am only at my parents for the summer, and for the price it was perfect for me.
I have a Singer Genie, from the 70's I got for $15 from a church, it's about 19lbs. and has a cool case that contains the foot so it's very compact. It doesn't have a free arm, and the feed dogs don't drop, but I know someone who just puts cardboard on top of the feed dogs!
I also have a cool little pink Kenmore I got for christmas 2 years ago, and it is a Janome rebadged. I know a few months ago they had the same machine in blue at sears.com.
Good Luck finding something you are going to like!