lisanne, here is another thing to take into consideration: i have nothing against wal mart but they do NOT have a service department for sewing machines or anything else for that matter. i would never buy a sewing machine from any other place except a dealer who has a repair service available to their store. you would not want to have to ship your machine back to the manufacturer in no telling where with today's postage rates. i guarantee you would pay at least $50.00 in shipping one way and possibly more. so if you have a local quilt shop that sells AND services machines, you would be money and aggravation ahead to buy from them. all machines have good and bad features, some you would use and some you wouldn't, but all machines sometimes have a lemon in the bunch. i have 2 Janomes and absolutely love them both. one is a lightweight gem platinum, it was about $300 - only weighs 12 pounds and i can easily carry it to classes etc. then of course have the 6600 for home use that does everything but make your morning coffee.
good luck in your search.
donna