I teach sewing, and occasionally let one of my students have one of my machines so they can sew at home. Hence was talking to my sewing machine mechanic a few days ago, and he said to stay away from all of the new Singers. They have been bought out, and the new ones are trash. I asked him what he recommended and he said the best ones on the market today are Brother and BabyLock. I have a Pfaff 7570, a Brother 6000i, a Viking 1100 that is on permanent loan, and a New Home older model. I like them all, but will only buy a Brother for a student now. You can get them reasonable. And if you want to buy on-line, go to Ken's Sewing in Muscle Shoals, ALA. They are very reliable, reasonable, and do a great job of packaging for shipping. You can get a good Brother for around $100. Also, their factory reconditioned ones are great, too. Hope this helps. M