There have been several discussions recently about this topic, so do a search to see other posts. Choose the type of machine that has the features that you want. Do you want to do emprodery ETC. , then go to shops and test sew the machine to see which one you like. I bought a Brothers 1500 straight stitch that I love for $600 (LQS was $1000-1300) with free shipping and no tax. Amazon is an authorized Brothers dealer so it will be easy to get fixed. I have another Singer machine for the fancy stitches.