I love the vintage Husquavarna LILY 550...have had mine 11 years, and boy does it sew through anything..I also have a very expensive Bernina, but got it used....an Aurora 430 QE (embroidery module, which have never hooked up, yet) and it is very nice. Ricky Tims uses one of those. Very nice motor. I have two old singers and a Sapphire. Have been sewing over 45 years, and I do like the 25 year warranty on the Singer motors, plus, if you go to HSN.com, they let you buy it on flex-pay, so it's like layaway, but you get it right away, plus you get the extra feet, and all the things you do not get in the stores. My sister got hers there for about 250, and she loves it, quilts on it all the time, it is a mid-range one. You can watch to videos to compare. One of the best places to compare machines is at
www.patternreview.com There is a place where the members rate dozens of machines...that is how I found the used Bernina...four years ago.