I taught for several years with these machines in my classroom. They do a very nice straight stitch. I was able to buy a so-so one at GW for $25 last spring. I forgot how much I like this one. My current students like using it as its speed is easy to control. Ironically, when we sold these off to replace with updated models, they went for $25 and now I own one again for the same price. I like sewing with it as much as my 301's IMHO. It took me a couple of hours to clean it up and oil but she purrs along now!