I have a 1950's straight stitch Singer clone. It's great and I do use it occasionally, but I can't imagine doing the majority of my sewing if I couldn't move my needle. I have a 1/4" piecing foot, but if you read the board, many members will tell you that unless you can move your needle a bit, you can't achieve a true 'scant' quarter inch. I almost always sew with the needle down. In the needle down setting, my Viking automatically raises the foot a tiny bit which makes pivoting and chain piecing a breeze. I know that other manufacturers have adopted this feature. I also have about a million decorative stitches, but only use a couple, so if I had to do it again, I would get a machine with fewer decorative stitches, but with the movable needle, needle down & auto lift.