Bob Purcell of Superior Threads teaches that topstitch and metallic needles are identical. I'm sure there must be some info about needles on his site. But to the poster's question, there are several 9" harp straight stitch only machines for $600-800, some have autocut. I *think* the Juki 2010, Brother 1500, Babylock Jane, and Janome 1600 P do. The New Pfaff Smarter C1100 Pro, the tried and true Janome 6600 and its sister the Elna 7300 Quilting Queen have 9" harps and autocut. The Babylock Quest Plus is similar, but no autocut. I have it and love it. The harp is actually 8 5/8", just an inch more than a Bernina 440, btw, just to give you something to think about. Some Pfaffs and Vikings have almost 10" harps. The Janome Horizon has 11" autocut, and more. The Bernina 820 & 830 have 12". Almost all machines have autothreaders now. So there are MANY machines that have that, so use budget, dealer availability, and other features yo naryow it down more