Last Sat. I bought a Janome DC1050 from a dealer for 299.00 and I like it so far. I haven't tested everything I'll be using yet such as the one step button hole attachment, but I believe I'll like it. I bought it from a dealer because I wanted someone local to work on it if need be and I sure didn't want to have to send it back to the factory. I shopped on the internet a lot so that I pretty much knew what I wanted. You can do a search on the machines you have in mind and you'll probably find you-tube demos which helped me narrow the field. Of course the one that cost $150 more was a better machine, but I wanted a light weight portable to take to classes and to use when traveling. So I kept to my budget and am very pleased. Hope you find something you like.