I think the drop-in bobbin, 90 stitch mechanical Kenmore is a good machine. It's only $249 when not on sale.
Here are some video reviews of it.
http://video.yahoo.com/watch/3894826/10608672
Also the mysears site has many reviews both positive and negative.
http://www.mysears.com/Kenmore-Drop-...ws?tab=reviews
The negatives of the machine are things like the bulb being too dim for some and the foot not raising high enough for some.
http://sewing.patternreview.com/ has many machine reviews if you're a member. It's free.
There's also a computerized Kenmore in the lower range although I haven't tried it.