Seeing that you could get a Featherweight or a 301 for about $250 or less, why not just get one of those? If you are looking at high end (Janome, Bernina) machines, they are going to cost at least that much. And they come with lots of "baggage", like extension tables, etc. The Featherweight 221 or a 301 are so simple, and you just put them in a tote and off you go.