The short beds have pretty much the "usual" amount of bed area to the left of the needle as most portable machines; the long beds have a little more. I sew with both long and short bed 301's and I honestly never miss the "extra" space when using the short bed ones. I've got to say, I leave my expensive, computerized machines setting and always go to my 301's for piecing as well as free motion work. In fact, I have much better success doing FM on a 301 than I do using my Bernina 630 with or without the BSR foot! So why then did I spend all that money for a 630????
Anybody want a 630?