I have both, but prefer my electronic, they make things easier for me. My brothers have never been fussy about the thread they use. Do you want it as you main machine or backup. for your price range I recommend the brother PC-420 off amazon. Its higher quality, more metal, and has a lot of nice features that you will love and not find on your mechanical, knee left, needle threader, thread cutter, pressure adjuster, lots of neat stitches