Think long and hard about what you want in a machine. What is must have, what you'd like it to have, and then your wildest dreams it would have. Once you have that list shop outward from there. You can find amazing machines that will do all the things you really want, need and desire and within whatever price limit you set for yourself. You can always double check the reviews at patternreview.com as they have lots and lots of reviews on just about every sewing machine.
I have two, a little Elna that can sew anything and does (the current entry level model). And a 9 year old former top of the line Brother, that is my dream machine that turned out to have all the bells and whistles and a price tag that was only a little more than I wanted to spend. I would recommend both.