You can pick up a Brother at Walmart for under $500. I picked my up on clearance because it was last years model for under $300. Mine is also a sewing machine. I mainly got it for a back up machine and I thought that i would probably only use it for quilt labels. Man was I wrong. I have used it a lot. Mine only has a 4x4 hoop. My next one will have a bigger hoop. It has been a great starter machine.