You can't go wrong (in my opinion) on getting an old Singer. Not a newer one though. I had a Singer from the 1950's and it was a solid, hardworking machine. I currently have a Bernina (my 2nd Bernina) and have been very very happy. One suggestion, and this is just my opinion, if you're going to get a newer machine, don't go too cheap. I used to have a cheap machine (sorry don't remember the brand) and it never held a good tension, the bobbin winder broke and I had to wind my bobbins by hand, and was just overall frustrating and tried to zap the fun out of my sewing! One nice thing about Amazon though is you can read the reviews from other purchasers which is helpful. Good luck!