I have just the machine the OP is talking about -- a Brother PQ1500S. It has a 10" throat, straight stitch, pin feed, needle up/down, and I love the push button thread cutter. Amazon has it listed for $668.00, but I got mine on E-Bay for only $250.00. I don't think the seller knew what he had. But anyway, if you really want a machine with few bells and whistles, I can certainly recommend this one or it's first cousin, the Juki 2010.
Or if you want to go old school, consider the Singer 201 -- lot's of space to work on that machine.
http://blog.sew-classic.com/2008/11/...ne-review.aspx