A good tool makes the job easier than a poor one. That said, my skills aren't any better than the tools I already own. I would need to be far more precise in my own work to justify better than I have.
How necessary are the bells and whistles? A basic zigzag machine (no decorative stitches) will handle 99% of any sewing tasks a home sewer is likely to have in clothing construction or quilting. A straight stitch machine will handle everything a quilter needs to do since quilters aren't as likely to work with stretchy fabrics. Decorative stitches are fun but not necessary. Automatic threading, thread cutting, needle up and down and so on may be nice but they certainly aren't anything the user can't do for themselves quickly and easily anyway. After about the third time doing it, how hard is it to thread a machine anyway? I do admit some of the new features are neat though. I saw somewhere a new machine where you could draw the stitch you want on the machine's touch screen and the machine would reproduce it for you. Very cool and fun but probably not necessary.
If you were to put 2 machines in front of me, one a fully computerized new model with all the bells and whistles and the other a well built but plain model machine, the choice would be simple. The well built but plain machine. We're not alone in that. Some manufacturers recognize that people still need basic quality built machines and they still produce them for that market.
Rodney