I used my mother's Singer, it was the ugliest green you ever saw but worked great. Then I babysat and other odd jobs until I saved enough money to buy a Bernina. That was 40 years ago. It cost $500 at the time. That was an absolute fortune. After I got married and started having kids, I was talked into trading it in for a Viking. The biggest mistake I ever made. What a horrible machine. After just a few years I traded that machine for my Pfaff. I still have that Pfaff and it works beautifully. When my mother-in-law passed away I inherited her newer fancier Pfaff. I used that machine for 20 years before I finally litteraly blew up the motor. Smoke and all. I went out and bought a new Pfaff Creative 4.0 to replace it. This new machine and I have been having a love affair since I brought it home. I love, love the 11 inch throat, the thread cutter and many of the other features. The only problem is that this thing is a monster. Really big. It is hard to carry to classes and such.