I'd look at the Juki 2000! It's the same as the Juki 2010 straight stitcher except without the speed control and you can find it on Amazon for less than $700. Has a very large throat, very heavy and sturdy, excellent stitch quality. The mechanical straight stitchers on always on my local craigslist, perhaps that's something you could look at? The Brother 1500s is another good machine that is usually less than $700, also on Amazon.