I know you said you don't want an old machine but I sew some part of every day and I find the Singer 500a the best and most reliable machine for a backup. It is all metal, no plastic parts to lose adjustment. It came with 5 additional discs with special fancy stitches, and others available. I have a Pffaff 2144 embroidery machine as my first machine and it has already lost a "motherboard" and had to be sent in once. The Singer I bought on E-Bay and it is always ready.