My oldest Bernina is my trusty 830 Bernina Record with the red hard plastic case. I bought it brand new in the 70s. About three years back I bought a 2004 Bernina Artista 200 embroidery, computerized machine. They both are wonderful. My favorite thing on the Artista is that I can set the needle to always stop in the down position. Also, I can set different speeds for FMQ. The Artista I bought off of craigslist.
[You can't go wrong with Singer 301 or a FW for straight stitching though. All of mine are off Craigslist.]