About needing a machine on the lower end of the budget...
Know that feeling really well. I got suckered into buying an entry level Babylock at a LQS because I wanted a machine I could take to a group quilting meeting. I have a nice embroidery machine but did not want to haul it over the river & the railroad and through the woods and the potholes on the highway. The BL9 is a good machine for what it is, but not for quilting. I didn't know & relied on the dealer who said it would be great for quilting. Yeah, not so much. Oh well.
I did some further research and ran across the Juki 2010Q. Have had it about a year and love it. All metal, not a lot of bells and whistles (other Juki models do have them, tho), but not suitable to take to class since it weighs nearly 38 lbs. Sews like a dream, auto thread cutter, knee lift, larger throat, quiet. I got it from icanhelpsew.com located in Meridian, MS. I also managed to get it with 6 months no interest financing. I later bought a Juki serger from an online dealer in San Marcos, CA which came with 12 months no interest financing. Being on a fixed income and with not a lot of "play" money, it was a major help to me and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
That said, for someone with limited sewing experience, assuming you have one, a local dealer is super and worth the difference between online $ and local $. I do not have such an animal. My closest Juki dealer is 125+ miles one way. If I want Husqvarna, Pfaff, Janome, Brother or Babylock from a reliable dealer, it's at least 115 miles, one way. I do have a Singer dealer about 60 miles away, but he has all the personality of a wet mop after a hard day's scrubbing. The Bernina dealer charges 20% more because the machine came from her. Bernina is out of my price range, anyway.
Even Joann or Hancock are 60 miles from me so online was the best option for me. However, if you would be going to a city when they are having a sewing expo (
http://www.sewingexpo.com/) they have all kinds of machines for you to try out, some super deals on a lot of them and some have no interest financing to boot. If you're feeling lucky, they usually give away 2 sewing machines each day at the expo, too.
BTW, if you go to buy a machine and the dealer says "This is a 1/4 inch foot", make him/her put it on the machine, sew with it & PROVE it is a true quarter inch. My BL9 has 3 such feet (and two made by BL) and none of them sew the right size seam. Can't move the needle, either, so I have to wing it. Ditto for the free motion foot. Make 'em put it on & show you it will do it. Same goes for the walking foot. Try it out and sew several lines of crossing or intersecting quilting lines to make sure the pressure on the presser foot is not too high & will not give you ridges of fabric on the back where the lines cross. Learned those tips the hard way.
