I'm extremely pleased with my Brother PC420PRW. It has 294 stiches and 3 lettering options, more than I will ever use. I had two other Brothers from Wal-Mart before selling them for my current machine. All were extremely nice. I just upgrade little by little. Still love my SE400 I use for embroidery only now. The most noticeable thing about the PC420 is that it is SO quiet! I purchased from Amazon and they still have it for $369 and shipping is free. I agree that a needle up/down, threader, and good light would be 3 things I would now have to have on a machine. It handles the fmq I've done really well. Good luck!