my favorites are Janome Jem Gold, Janome MyStyle100, Janome HD 1000. These are $300 or less. The Mystyle has drop feed and pressure adjustment and I think the HD3000 mentioned above also has it. The other 3 do not have those 2 features but they sew extremely well. I'm currently using my Jem Gold as my go-to piecing machine for the narrow feed-dogs, quiet operation and perfect straight stitch. Pfaff, Viking and Bernina also carry a mechanical machine but they are considerably more more..start at $500-$600 I think. There are quite a few mechanical Brothers also starting at $100 but I'm not familiar w/ their model #s.