I just bought an older Bernina on the local "trading post" where people advertise things they want to sell. It works like a charm and makes a wonderful straight stitch. Its pretty basic, but for piecing is wonderful. Keep your eye out at estate sales too. A friend purchased a Bernina for $60 at one such tag sale. I would suggest you go to local dealers and actually bring your own samples to sew on. (seams to go over etc) Just make up a small sample of each thing you want to sew, they should let you use that to try each machine. Janome has a nice small machine that does beautiful basic stitching, although I don't think you can quilt easily on it. Good luck with your search.